A Study of Inherited Lip Prints Patterns Among the Family Members

Abstract - Like fingerprints, every individual’s lip print has a distinct pattern which varies significantly among family members. These patterns, formed as a result of wrinkles and grooves present on the lips are referred to as “Lip prints” and its study is termed as cheiloscopy. Due to its unique and permanent nature, lip prints may serve as one of the most valuable physical evidence in forensic investigations. Even though these are unique to each individual, research has indicated that they show a slight degree of resemblance between parents and their offsprings which may be attributed to genetic inheritance. The main objective of this study is to identify and analyse the most predominant lip pattern among the family members and to prove the link between lip prints and genetic inheritance. In this study, lip prints of 50 families, residing in Chennai were collected using photography method instead of using the old conventional lipstick method, and classified using the Suzuki and Tsuchihashi classification system. The result indicated, the most predominant pattern among the study population to be Type-III pattern (42.0% each) among the upper lips and lower lips. Both the lip print pattern of father and mother exhibits the similar kind of inheritance. Key Words: Cheiloscopy, inherited, lip prints, grooves, wrinkles, genetics