Adermatoglyphia - People Without Fingerprints
In 2007, a Swiss woman had trouble entering the United States because immigration officials discovered she had no fingerprints. They were baffled because they had not seen a phenomenon like this before.
Fingerprints are a feature with which people can be identified. Even twins have different fingerprints, but not everyone in the world has them. There are a few people in the world who were born with a genetic difference, causing them to have no fingerprints at all. This disease is called adermatoglyphia.
Such a condition is caused by a genetic mutation. According to researchers there are only four families on earth whose members do not have fingerprints.
Fingerprints develop with the unborn baby, when the fetus is about 24 weeks old. They do not change during life.
Although scientists do not know what functions fingerprints have, some say they increase the ability to hold things in your hands. People who were born without fingerprints often don’t have the grip to grasp things.
Adermatoglyphia is a disease that affects not only your fingers but also the palms of your hand and the soles of your feet. People with this disease often don’t sweat normally. Because body heat cannot escape they are often in danger of suffering a heatstroke. Such victims often have other skin problems too..
Words
- ability = skill, talent
- according to = as said by ….
- although = while
- baffled = surprised
- cause = lead to
- discover = find out
- disease = illness
- escape = get out
- feature = characteristic , quality
- fetus = a baby before it is born
- genetic = about cells that control what you look like or how you grow
- grasp = grab, take hold of
- grip = to hold tightly
- heat stroke = when the body temperature goes up very quickly ; it can be deadly if you do not treat it quickly
- identify = recognize; to find out who someone is
- immigration = when you enter another country to work or live there
- increase = add to; make better
- mutation = change
- official = someone who is in a high position in an organization
- palm = the inside part of your hand with which you hold things
- phenomenon = something unusual
- researcher = person who studies a topic and tries to find out new facts about it
- sole = the part of your foot on which you stand
- suffer = go through
- sweat = drops of salty water that comes out of your skin when it is hot or because you have exercised a lot
- twin = one of two children born at the same time to the same mother
- unborn = not born
- victim = a person who suffers from a disease