How fingerprints form was a mystery — until now

A theory proposed by mathematician Alan Turing in the 1950s helps explain the process

Three up close photos of index fingers with purple lines drawn on each to show their fingerprint shape. The first on the left shows the arch shape, the second in the middle shows the loop shape and the third on the right shows the whorl shape.

Three of the most common fingerprint shapes — arch, loop and whorl (traced in purple) — can be explained in part by a theory proposed by British mathematician Alan Turing.

J. Glover et al/Cell 2023

Scientists have finally figured out how those arches, loops and whorls formed on your fingertips.