---
title: "Why do identical twins have different fingerprints?"  
description: "Why do identical twins have different fingerprints?"  
author: "Ava Reeve"  
published: 2017-12-14  
canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/31674/why-do-identical-twins-have-different-fingerprints  
category: "health"  
tags: ["identical twins"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# Why do identical twins have different fingerprints?

Why do identical twins have different fingerprints?

## Answers

### Answer by Vishal Kesarwani

**Fingerprints are not entirely genetically determined but are influenced by changes in micro-environments.** Take a glass of water and drip in a drop of food coloring or ink. Rinse the glass out, fill it exactly as before and drip again from the same height. **The two resulting swirls of color will be similar - but not identical.** ![Why do identical twins have different fingerprints?](https://answers.mindstick.com/questionanswer/46b53fae-d698-4c78-847e-80a4e5805db7/images/14885cb0-768e-4255-83e8-0e6482af751f.png)**However the twin kids have the similar DNA,** but they identically don’t look exactly the same as each and every aspect of a human body appearance is rigidly determined by our genes. \
**Fingerprints are formed semi-randomly and are formed in several steps as the fetus develops in the womb and are affected by such things as chance fluctuations of hormone levels.** So prior to that the pattern of freckles and moles on the skin is caused by random mutations and will vary between identical twins. \
**"hope you understood"**


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Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/31674/why-do-identical-twins-have-different-fingerprints

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