Do identical twins have the same fingerprint...

Cecil, You explained in a past column that identical twins have similar, but not identical fingerprint. That some of the detains are due to local phenomonon.

This got me wondering, what about clones? Now we ain’t got that far yet, but who knows? When I get myself cloned to cover for me at work, will I be convicted for any misdeeds he commits?

I suppose the answer to this is going to entail some discussion of the differences between a identical twin and a pair of clones so while your at it could you cover that too.


The facts expressed here belong to everybody, the opinions to me. The distinction is
yours to draw…

Omniscient; BAG

Considering that it’s very unlikely that the cloning scientists will be able to replicate the womb conditions of the clonee, it’s not likely that the clone will have the same fingerprints as the originals.

Re: differences between identical twins and clones.
Identical twins: occur when a fertilized egg splits and forms 2 zygotes.
Clones: created artificially from living (?) tissue.

If you are cloned now, your clone will be an infant, and obviously, you are not. :wink:
If you had an identical twin, both of you would be the same age.


“We’re gonna have lawyers here. It’ll be a fun time.”
–R.R.S.

I read or heard somewhere (that’s a great line, ainit?) that the fingerprints are a result of “wrinkling” - I don’t know if this happens in the womb, or shortly thereafter. Given that, I think that even you did duplicate the womb conditions you would still see the “randomness” of it.