2025考研英语同源外刊:为什么指纹是弯的
The whorls, arches and loops that make fingerprints unique are produced during fetal development by waves of tiny ridges that form on the fingertip, spread and then collide with each other — similar to the process that gives a zebra its stripes, or a cheetah its spots.
在胎儿发育过程中，指尖上形成的一波又一波的微小隆起会产生独特的轮纹、弓形和环状指纹，这些隆起会扩散，然后相互碰撞，类似于斑马或猎豹身上的条纹。
In a study published on 9 February in Cell, researchers found that the interplay between two proteins — one that stimulates ridge formation, and another that inhibits it — produces periodic waves of ridges that emerge from three distinct regions on the fingertip.
在2月9日发表在《细胞》杂志上的一项研究中，研究人员发现，两种蛋白质之间的相互作用——一种刺激嵴的形成，另一种抑制嵴的形成——会从指尖的三个不同区域产生周期性的嵴波。
The precise locations of these regions and the collisions between the waves yields the unique pattern of a fingerprint. “To come up with these different patterns of arches, loops, and whorls, the key isn’t just the molecular ingredients,” says study co-author Denis Headon, a developmental biologist at the University of Edinburgh, UK. “It’s how they are deployed on the anatomy of the hand.”
这些区域的精确位置和波之间的碰撞产生了指纹的独特图案。研究合著者、英国爱丁堡大学的发育生物学家Denis Headon说：“要想得出这些不同的弓形、环状和轮匝图案，关键不仅仅是分子成分。关键是它们在手的解剖结构上的分布。”
Fingerprints are thought to provide added grip and sensitivity to fingertips, and their patterns have long been used to identify individuals and diagnose some developmental conditions. Last year, Headon and his colleagues published work describing the genes that influence fingerprint patterns, many of which are involved in limb development. These genes seemed to lay the groundwork for fingerprint formation, but many of them were inactive during the process, suggesting that they were not directly involved in forming ridges.
指纹被认为可以为指尖提供更多的抓握力和灵敏度，它们的模式长期以来一直被用来识别个体和诊断一些发育状况。去年，Headon和他的同事发表了一项研究，描述了影响指纹模式的基因，其中许多基因与肢体发育有关。这些基因似乎为指纹的形成奠定了基础，但其中许多在这个过程中是不活跃的，这表明它们没有直接参与指纹脊的形成。
To learn more about fingerprint patterning, Headon and his colleagues tracked how fingerprints emerge over the course of fetal development. Anatomical studies and analyses of gene activity showed that the cells that form fingerprint ridges followed a developmental path that initially mimicked that of a hair follicle. But, unlike a follicle’s gene-activity pattern, the ridge cells failed to incorporate cells from deeper beneath the skin’s surface.
为了了解更多关于指纹模式的信息，Headon和他的同事追踪了指纹是如何在胎儿发育过程中出现的。解剖学研究和基因活性分析表明，形成指纹脊的细胞遵循最初模仿毛囊的发育路径。但是，与毛囊的基因活动模式不同，嵴细胞未能结合皮肤表面下更深的细胞。
The analyses supported the presence of a ‘Turing reaction–diffusion system’, which can be created when a molecule that activates a developmental process stimulates both itself and an inhibitory molecule. The result is a self-organizing system that creates periodic patterns, says Marian Ros, a developmental biologist at the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria in Santander, Spain.
这些分析支持了“图灵反应-扩散系统”的存在，当激活发育过程的分子同时刺激自身和抑制分子时，就可以产生这种系统。西班牙桑坦德市坎塔布里亚生物医学和生物技术研究所的发育生物学家Marian Ros说，结果是一个自组织系统产生了周期性模式。
Such systems were proposed by mathematician Alan Turing in 1952 as a chemical explanation for developmental processes such as the arrangement of leaves on a plant or tentacles on the small aquatic organisms called hydras. Since then, Turing reaction–diffusion mechanisms have been described as instrumental in establishing a wide variety of familiar biological sights, including the brightly coloured scales of some tropical fish, and feather patterns in birds.
1952年，数学家艾伦·图灵提出了这样的系统，作为对发育过程的化学解释，如植物上叶子的排列或被称为水螅的小型水生生物的触角的排列。从那时起，图灵反应-扩散机制被描述为有助于建立各种熟悉的生物景观，包括一些热带鱼色彩鲜艳的鳞片和鸟类的羽毛图案。
To find the molecules that direct fingertip patterning, Headon and his collaborators studied the ridges on mouse toes, and human cells grown in 3D cultures. They found that a protein called WNT, which is important in hair-follicle development, stimulates ridge formation. Another molecule, called BMP, inhibits them, forming the Turing reaction–diffusion system.
为了找到指导指尖图案形成的分子，Headon和他的合作者研究了小鼠脚趾上的嵴和在3D培养物中生长的人类细胞。他们发现一种名为WNT的蛋白质对毛囊发育很重要，它能刺激嵴的形成。另一种称为BMP的分子抑制它们，形成图灵反应-扩散系统。
The ridges emanate from three regions: the tip of the finger; the centre of the fingertip; and the crease at the base of the fingertip, where the finger bends (see ‘How prints are patterned’). In simulations, Headon and his team altered the timing, angle and precise location of the waves’ origins in these three sites, and created arches, loops and whorls. “These waves will collide,” says Cheng-Ming Chuong, a developmental biologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “And when they collide, they provide a turbulence that helps to create the diversity of fingerprint patterns.”
脊从三个区域发出：指尖；指尖的中心；以及指尖底部的折痕，即手指弯曲的地方（请参阅“指纹是如何形成图案的”）。在模拟中，Headon和他的团队改变了这三个地点波浪起源的时间、角度和精确位置，并创建了拱形、环形和螺纹。洛杉矶南加州大学的发育生物学家郑明聪说：“这些波会碰撞。”。“当它们碰撞时，会产生湍流，有助于创造指纹图案的多样性。”
The findings are a significant advance in our understanding of fingerprint patterning, says Ros. Chuong notes that past studies of skin ridges, such as fingerprints, have tended to focus more on theoretical and modelling approaches than on experimental data. But the latest study harnesses advances in cell-culturing techniques and other methods to push the field: “Their work opens this area up,” says Chuong. “Now people might look more at these hidden patterns in our skin.”
罗斯说，这些发现是我们对指纹图案理解的重大进步。Chuong指出，过去对指纹等皮肤嵴的研究往往更多地关注理论和建模方法，而不是实验数据。但最新的研究利用了细胞培养技术和其他方法的进步来推动这一领域的发展：“他们的工作打开了这一领域，”Chuong说。“现在人们可能会更多地关注我们皮肤中隐藏的这些模式。”
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