This Fingerprint Function for Human Life
In 1910, Thomas Jennings managed to escape from the scene of the murder but left little clues that were very important. The clue that determines his fate before the law as a murderer is a fingerprint. In addition to the case handled by Inspector Eduardo Alvarez in Argentina, Jennings’s case was the first, in a criminal investigation, to turn fingerprints as evidence of crime.
After the Jennings case, the role of fingerprints became very vital in forensic investigations. This unique identity marker is ideal for guiding justice officers to find the figure of a criminal. Of course, fingerprints are not only useful for identifying every human being. Apart from the need for forensic investigations, fingerprints also have other benefits. Scars on fingerprints create friction between the human hand and the surface of the object it touches. Thanks to this condition, humans can grip wet surfaces, keeping hands from slipping.
Fingerprints are also useful for preventing blisters. According to Ennos, fingerprint strokes also make the skin not blister easily. While at the same time, fingerprints also allow the skin to stretch at the right angle. Meanwhile, Georges Debregeas, a biologist at Sorbonne University, Paris, France, explains the function of fingerprints in more detail. According to him, in our fingers, there are four types of mechanical receptors or cells that respond to mechanical stimulation (such as touch). One receptor is the Pacinian blood cell, which is located about 2 millimeters below the surface of the skin at the tip of the finger. These receptors mediate texture perception.
When humans touch an object’s surface, fingerprints will send vibrational frequencies to Pacinian blood cells that are very sensitive. Thanks to this, mechanical receptors can accommodate sensory information. However, what is the benefits of this sensory information for human life? For thousands of years, human hands have been an important tool for finding and processing food. Finger sensitivity to texture is very useful to detect the type of food that is fit for consumption. The reason we need to detect and sort by texture is that we want to separate good food from bad food. Touch sensitivity helps humans to avoid rotten or infected food.
Besides humans, fingerprints and Pacinian blood cells are also shared by other animals, such as chimpanzees and koalas, which rely on touch sensitivity to find the right food. Fingerprints can strengthen grip. Fingerprints allow us to correct strength directly when we are going to grip an object