Tuesday, May 1, 2012

The Fingerprints of Identical Twins

Identical twins are more likely to have fingerprints of the same type, but prints are not identical.

Identical twins caught red-fingered (PLoS.org)
Fingerprints are as unique as snowflakes – or so we’re taught in elementary school. Identical twins, though, provide an interesting caveat to this rule: Not only do they look alike, they are also more likely than non-twins to have similar fingerprint patterns.

These similarities raise potential complications for biometrics-based security systems and crime solvers, but a PLoS ONE paper published Friday suggests there’s no reason to worry.


h/t @m2sys