Are+fingerprints+inherited+through+family+generations? 

Kylie Ashton and Paige Holthe 7th hour
Title: Fingerprint Inheritance

**__Summary of Experiment__:**
===**We are took five families fingerprint's. We took the fingerprints of the father, mother, and their offspring to determine if they were related or similar in anyway. Prior to taking the fingerprints, we researched which ink was best for fingerprinting. We also researched the best way to roll to finger on the paper for the best results. After taking the fingerprints, we examined them and compared them to the three different types of fingerprints. We then made the conclusion that fingerprint types are inherited, but the individual ridge features are not.**===

__Purpose__:

 * We are conducting an experiment to determine if fingerprints are inherited from family generations. Our purpose in this experiment is to learn if fingerprint types are inherited through family members. **
 * __Why and how the activity is done__: We chose this topic because we are interested to learn more about fingerprints and if they are all truly unique. “This demonstrates that you are more likely to share pattern type with your family members than an unrelated individual, but your identifying FRS features will always be unique.” (Langenburg 2012) We are going to take a survey of various people and some of their family members by using ink. “Two of the most common kinds of ink used in fingerprinting are porelon and black printers’ ink.” (Strasser 2012) Certain types of inks may stain or harm the subject's finger. We want the best results possible, so the ink cannot smudge or blend when stamped. The best recomended ink is **** Office Depot Ink. **** We are going to compare these results and find out if the subject’s fingerprints are related at all to his or her siblings or parents. After a little research, we learned that finger patterns are inherited, but individual ridge features are not. “Pattern types are often genetically inherited, but the individual details that make a fingerprint unique are not.” (Langenburg 2012) We are going to continue to research this topic and conduct a survey. In the survey we are going to ask questions like what other family members of the person's finger prints look like. We will also take a fingerprint of those closer family members to compare the results. For example, one person's fingerprints could look very similar to her mother. So we can test that theory by seeing fingerprints are more likely to come from your mother or father. **
 * __Backround Information__: Based on all of the information that we collected from our sources, we know that fingerprints may be similar but not identical. Every fingerprint is unique. We also researched the best way to take fingerprints and the best ink to use. **
 * “Pattern types are often genetically inherited, but the individual details that make a fingerprint unique are not.” (Langenburg 2012) **


 * __Summary Sentence__: Overall, we believe that the fingerprint type will be inherited, but not the ridge features.**


 * __Hypothesis__: If fingerprint patterns are inherited, then only the type of print will be inherited rather than the actual ridge features.**


 * __Materials__: We are going to be using one Office Depot Ink pad, one piece of computer paper, and one Clorox wipe per person. The wipes will be used to clean the person's finger before stamping. These are all the materials needed to conduct our experiment.**


 * __Procedure__: First, we are going to take one subject's fingerprint and analyze it. After we figure out the type of fingerprint that the person has, we are going to test their parents fingerprints as well. If the subject's fingerprint type is the same then we will go more in depth with our experiment and look at the ridge features of the fingerprints. We will test five families to test our hypothesis. Our controls are the ink, the paper, and the wipes because they will stay the same. The family will change.**
 * __Measurement time__: Each person held his or her finger on the ink pad for three seconds before they rolled it.**


 * Overall, we believe that the fingerprint type will be inherited, but not the ridge features.**


 * __Data__:**
 * Percentage of Similar Fingerprints**
 * 80% to 20%**
 * || [[image:http://1dayhabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/graph2.jpg width="189" height="150" align="right"]] ||


 * Family || Similar fingerprints? || Similar Ridge Features? ||
 * 1 || Yes || Yes ||
 * 2 || Yes || Yes ||
 * 3 || No || No ||
 * 4 || Yes || Yes ||
 * 5 || Yes || Yes ||


 * __Analysis__: In our experiment, we had many trends start to form. All of the fingerprints were related to their parents except for one family. This made us ask many questions and wonder if the ridge features were also similar. We went more in depth with our experiment and tested the same families again to try and get a more clear fingerprint so we could look closer at them. As we examined the other fingerprints, we began to notice that all the ridge features were similar except for one. We we a little confused when we saw this, but we realized that not all families will have the same ridge features even if the majority does. Each family is going to be different. We tested five families that are included on the table and graph above. Our graph shows the percentage of similar ridge features compared to the percentage of not similar fingerprints. It is an 4:5 ratio which divides out to be an 80% to 20% graph, which is what we have. Our data table also represents our results of our experiment.**


 * __Conclusion__: We concluded that our hypothesis was correct. Our hypothesis was: If fingerprint patterns are inherited, then only the type of print will be inherited rather than the actual ridge features. This hypothesis was accepted because based on our results and data it was proved to be true. Our experiment supported our data.**


 * __Limitations__: Our first error was making the subjects hold their finger on the ink so long. This made the fingerprint very dark. As a solution, we could just have them tap their finger on the ink before they put it on the paper.**
 * Our second error was only testing one offspring. By testing the other offspring we could have gotten more accurate results. As a solution we could have tested all offspring of the family.**
 * Our third error was not explaining how to roll their finger on the paper. Many people rolled the wrong way or didn't do the right speed. As a solution we could show them what to do as an example.**
 * __New Hypothesis__: If finger patterns are inherited, then most likely the ridge features will be similar to those of their parents.**

__**BIBLIOGRAPHY**__ Strasser, Klaus, and Michelle Arevalo. "What Are The Different Types of Fingerprint Equipment?" //WiseGeek //. Conjecture, n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. [|____]

 Langenberg, Glenn. "Are One's Fingerprints Similar to Those of His or Her Parents in Any Discernable Way?: Scientific American." //Are One's Fingerprints Similar to Those of His or Her Parents in Any Discernable Way?: Scientific American //. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2012. < [|__http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=are-ones-fingerprints-sim__] >

Could you explain differences between inks? (Atchison)

I think that you should provide some examples of the questions you might put on this Finger Print survey. -Madison Davis i think you should see if the prints come from the mom or dad. (Agner)

Which type of ink will you use to test the fingerprints? (Lauren Martel)

Is a survey like that really the best way to collect data? Not a lot of people know off the top of their head what their relatives' fingerprints look like. (Cate Reem)