No, you cannot fundamentally change your fingerprints to create different prints. You can only damage them, resulting in altered or potentially unusable prints.
Understanding Fingerprint Permanence
Fingerprints are unique patterns formed during fetal development and remain largely unchanged throughout life. While minor alterations can occur due to superficial injuries, the fundamental ridge structure remains the same. As noted in several sources, including Quora (https://www.quora.com/How-can-we-change-our-fingerprints-temporarily) and Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/143m79h/do_fingerprints_restore_exactly_the_same_after_a/), even after significant injuries like burns, fingerprints will regenerate, though potentially with some scarring. The FBI also highlights the challenges posed by altered fingerprints in forensic investigations (https://leb.fbi.gov/spotlights/forensic-spotlight-altered-fingerprints-a-challenge-to-law-enforcement-identification-efforts).
Methods of Fingerprint Alteration (Resulting in Damage, Not Change)
It's crucial to understand that any attempt to "change" fingerprints involves inflicting damage:
- Severe Burns: Extensive burns can significantly alter fingerprint patterns, but these changes are due to scarring and tissue damage, not a fundamental change in the underlying fingerprint structure.
- Surgical Removal of Skin: Surgical removal of skin from finger tips would destroy the fingerprints, not change them.
- Chemical Damage: Using corrosive chemicals would result in damage and scarring, rendering the fingerprints unusable.
The regeneration process mentioned in various sources (https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/143m79h/do_fingerprints_restore_exactly_the_same_after_a/) means that even after substantial damage, the fingerprints might partially or fully recover, often with visible scarring.
Changing Fingerprint Data vs. Fingerprint Patterns
Many of the linked articles refer to changing fingerprint data in the context of phone or computer security. This refers to changing the registered fingerprint used for authentication, not altering the physical fingerprint itself. For example, adding a different finger to a device's biometric security system. This is different from the physical fingerprint and its inherent unchangeability.
