<p>Though an exceptionally rare condition -- only four documented families are known to suffer from the disease worldwide, adermatoglyphia inspired a Tel Aviv professor to delve deeper into the causes of the condition and isolate the gene behind it. <br /><br />Adermatoglyphia is also known as "Immigration Delay Disease" because such individuals face hurdles at security barriers or checkpoints where fingerprint is required. <br /><br />Eli Sprecher of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine has identified the genetic mutation responsible for this unusual condition, the American Journal of Human Genetics reports.<br /><br />Sufferers of adermatoglyphia, Sprecher explains, were found to have decreased levels of the short skin-specific version of the gene SMARCAD1, according to a Tel Aviv statement.<br /><br />"Immigration Delay Disease" came to the attention of the medical community when it did just that - delay the attempts of one Swiss woman to cross the border into the US, which requires that non-citizens be fingerprinted upon entry. <br /><br />Border control personnel were mystified when the woman informed them that she was unable to comply.<br /><br />Abnormal fingerprints can also be a warning sign of more severe disorders.<br /><br />Scientists know that fingerprints are fully formed 24 weeks after fertilization, and do not change throughout our lives. <br /><br />Sprecher adds that it isn't only fingertips that have patterned skin -- palms, toes, and the soles of the feet also feature these ridges, called dermatoglyphs.</p>
<p>Though an exceptionally rare condition -- only four documented families are known to suffer from the disease worldwide, adermatoglyphia inspired a Tel Aviv professor to delve deeper into the causes of the condition and isolate the gene behind it. <br /><br />Adermatoglyphia is also known as "Immigration Delay Disease" because such individuals face hurdles at security barriers or checkpoints where fingerprint is required. <br /><br />Eli Sprecher of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine has identified the genetic mutation responsible for this unusual condition, the American Journal of Human Genetics reports.<br /><br />Sufferers of adermatoglyphia, Sprecher explains, were found to have decreased levels of the short skin-specific version of the gene SMARCAD1, according to a Tel Aviv statement.<br /><br />"Immigration Delay Disease" came to the attention of the medical community when it did just that - delay the attempts of one Swiss woman to cross the border into the US, which requires that non-citizens be fingerprinted upon entry. <br /><br />Border control personnel were mystified when the woman informed them that she was unable to comply.<br /><br />Abnormal fingerprints can also be a warning sign of more severe disorders.<br /><br />Scientists know that fingerprints are fully formed 24 weeks after fertilization, and do not change throughout our lives. <br /><br />Sprecher adds that it isn't only fingertips that have patterned skin -- palms, toes, and the soles of the feet also feature these ridges, called dermatoglyphs.</p>