Blaschko's lines
lines on skin, believed to trace the migration of embryonic cells, invisible under normal conditions.
Blaschko's lines, also called the lines of Blaschko, are lines of normal cell development in the skin. These lines are only visible in those with a mosaic skin condition or in chimeras where different cell lines contain different genes. These lines may express different amounts of melanin, or become visible due to a differing susceptibility to disease. In such individuals, they can become apparent as whorls, patches, streaks, or lines in a linear or segmental distribution over the skin. They follow a V shape over the back, S-shaped whirls over the chest and sides, and wavy shapes on the head. Not all mosaic skin conditions follow Blaschko's lines.
The lines are believed to trace the migration of embryonic cells. They do not correspond to underlying nervous, muscular, or lymphatic systems. The lines are not unique to humans and can be observed in non-human animals with mosaicism.
Alfred Blaschko is credited with the first demonstration of these lines in 1901.
“Blaschko's lines” enters the record as lines on skin, believed to trace the migration of embryonic cells, invisible under normal conditions. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Blaschko's, lines and skin can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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