Keratin 14 Gene and Fingerprints
One of my first contacts with medical professionals outside of my own medical care was back when I was in elementary school. We were doing a letter-writing module where we were to write a “business” letter to a professional and ask some sort of question. I chose to write to a primary care physician asking if it would be possible to file off our fingerprints. He responded with an excellent explanation that made me even more interested in science and health.
What he didn’t mention was that there are rare congenital diseases where people are born without fingerprints. Recently, a mutation in the gene coding for the keratin 14 protein has been found to play a role in Naegeli syndrome and dermatopathia pigmentosa reticularis (DPR).
The defect induces the body to mark cells in the upper layers of the skin for death. As a result, people with these afflictions lack fingerprints, as well as the ability to perspire normally. They also suffer from thickening of the palms and soles and may have developmental anomalies of the teeth, hair and skin.
This gene discovery could lead to greater understanding of other similar skin disorders.
FYI, the National Institutes of Health Office of Rare Diseases is an important source of information on rare diseases.
Medical News Today, September 24, 2006
Tags: congenital-diseases, Dermatopathia-Pigmentosa-Reticularis, disease, DNA, fingerprints, Genes, genetics, health, illness, keratin, naegeli, skin, skin-conditions, skin-disordersRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Genetics of Disease
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