Evidence · Replicated

What the research found

In the cited research, the A allele at rs2004773 was associated with more whorl fingerprints.

GG: Fewer whorls
AG: Middle
AA: More whorls

Slight effect

What the study found

In the study, each copy went with fingerprint pattern on the right little finger, scored from arch through loop to whorl about 0.1 points higher on average.

Han Chinese, WeGene replication cohort · Table 1 (rs2004773, Replication 2: WeGene)

Evidence: Genome-wide association with independent replication
Who was studied: Han Chinese adults: three discovery cohorts and two replication cohorts

1000 Genomes Project

How common each genotype is

How common each genotype is in the 1000 Genomes Project, by region
Region	GGFewer whorls	AGMiddle	AAMore whorls
All regions2,504 people	55%	38%	7%
Africa661 people	67%	30%	2%
The Americas347 people	48%	42%	11%
East Asia504 people	36%	50%	14%
Europe503 people	62%	35%	3%
South Asia489 people	57%	35%	8%

Among the 2,504 people of the 1000 Genomes Project, in five world regions. These percentages describe groups of people, never anyone’s chance of having a trait.

Ancient genomes

Through time

How often the studied letter was read in ancient people, era by era, in the region chosen.

Region

Through time: Europe
Before farmingbefore 6500 BC	5%3 of 58 copies read
First farmers6500 to 3000 BC	20%148 of 725 copies read
Bronze Age3000 to 1200 BC	17%106 of 631 copies read
Iron Age and Antiquity1200 BC to AD 600	17%138 of 830 copies read
Middle AgesAD 600 to 1500	21%106 of 514 copies read
Today1000 Genomes	21%207 of 1,006 copies

Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes

Altai Neanderthal: No copies
Vindija Neanderthal: No copies
Chagyrskaya Neanderthal: No copies
Denisovan: No copies

Neanderthals and Denisovans carried the other letter, so this letter is younger than our split with them.

For most ancient people only one of their two copies can be read, so these counts are copies read, not people. Close relatives, repeated samples and samples the archive marks as unreliable are left out. Damage in old DNA can fake this letter, so it is counted only from samples treated to remove that damage and from high-quality genomes. Ancient genomes from the Allen Ancient DNA Resource (AADR v66): 15,136 people.

rs2004773

The marker

Gene or region: SALL3 region
Marker: rs2004773
Location: Chromosome 18 · GRCh37 76,379,394 · GRCh38 78,619,394
Letters studied: A and G, with A as the studied allele

A DNA Traits report reads this marker in your raw DNA file and shows which of the three genotypes is yours, with how common it is. It counts the copies of the studied allele; it does not measure the trait itself.

Marker: SALL3 region · rs2004773
Location: Chromosome 18 · GRCh37 76,379,394 · GRCh38 78,619,394
Studied allele: A
Published statistic: A allele: discovery beta 0.164, P 6.14e-29 at the right little finger (n 9,909; genome-wide significant for index and little fingers of both hands); CKB 0.059, P 7.1e-4; WeGene 0.101, P 1.89e-10, both at the same finger (Table 1) (Table 1 (rs2004773, Replication 2: WeGene))
1000 Genomes Project phase 3, people with 0, 1 and 2 copies: All regions 1382 / 948 / 174 · Africa 446 / 200 / 15 · The Americas 165 / 145 / 37 · East Asia 180 / 254 / 70 · Europe 311 / 177 / 15 · South Asia 280 / 172 / 37

See this card in the sample report

Limits

What it cannot tell you

Studied in Han Chinese adults, finger by finger; the figure is for the right little finger, where the link was strongest.

Limb development genes underlie variation in human fingerprint patterns (Li et al., 2022)

The same topic

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