# If a hand transplant recipient scrapes his finger, whose print grows back?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-hand-transplant-recipient-scrapes-his-finger-whose-print-grows-back/56157>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 28, 2001, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-hand-transplant-recipient-scrapes-his-finger-whose-print-grows-back/56157 "2001-02-28T04:34:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-hand-transplant-recipient-scrapes-his-finger-whose-print-grows-back/56157/1 "2001-02-28T04:34:02Z")

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'nuf said. What think you?

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**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-hand-transplant-recipient-scrapes-his-finger-whose-print-grows-back/56157/2 "2001-02-28T04:43:22Z")

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The transplanted hands’. The skin grows back from the other skin, whose genetic material remains the same.

–Tim

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**Author:** ![Mikahw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Mikahw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikahw)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-hand-transplant-recipient-scrapes-his-finger-whose-print-grows-back/56157/3 "2001-02-28T05:17:46Z")

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DNA is not the only determinant to fingerprints. Identical twins don’t even have the same fingerprints.

Oh, and fingerprints grow back? I never knew that. Not like I’m going to expirament with a razor to find out if it’s true…

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**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-hand-transplant-recipient-scrapes-his-finger-whose-print-grows-back/56157/4 "2001-02-28T13:58:10Z")

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I sliced off a small sliver of my left index finger (not just now, years ago :rolleyes: ), enough to remove a good portion of my print area. My print not grow back; it scarred over just enough to be noticable.

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**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-hand-transplant-recipient-scrapes-his-finger-whose-print-grows-back/56157/5 "2001-02-28T14:02:30Z")

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I have a scar on my right index finger as well. It is “flat” and does not have the fingerprint lines it used to have.

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**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-a-hand-transplant-recipient-scrapes-his-finger-whose-print-grows-back/56157/6 "2001-02-28T14:22:54Z")

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Let me help the OP out:

What if the transplanted hand had a beauty mark, and it was scraped off in an accident. Would the beauty mark return?

Beauty marks do return normally, but would they return on a transplanted part?

( If the mark returns, then the genetic code is controlled by the nearest surviving cells?)…curious…