Dermatoglyphics and Their Relationship With Blood Group: An Exploration

INTRODUCTION: Dermatoglyphics means the study of skin markings or patterns on fingers, hands, and feet. Dermatoglyphics is a heritable trait that is considered as a usual phenotype in criminology. Dermatoglyphics acts as a scientific method for identification of an individual and it is constant till demise. OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to correlate the dermatoglyphics and blood grouping of 150 dental students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A pro forma was prepared on a durable white paper, rubber stamp ink pads were used for smearing each finger, imprints were taken, and each pattern of fingerprint was observed by powerful hand lens and recorded. Note was made of the sex, age, and ABO and Rh blood group for studying the relationship between types of fingerprints and relation to ABO and Rh blood type. Fingerprint was taken using the INK method as illustrated by Cummins and Mildo. Fingerprint patterns (loops, whorls, and arches) and blood data were collected. RESULTS: In this study, 38% of subjects belonged to O blood group followed by A, B, and AB, and 96.77% of subjects were Rh-positive and 3.23% were Rh-negative. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows the association between distribution of dermatoglyphics, ABO, Rh blood group, and gender.