Polydactyly is the most commonly observed congenital digital anomaly of the hands and feet and occurs in 1 in 500 live births. The condition is characterized by an abnormal amount of fingers on each hand in which the extra fingers may develop bilaterally, or it may occur on both or only one hand, foot, or some other combination. Usually the extra toes that develop are small pieces of soft tissue or appear fully formed. It is observed that in approximately 80-90% of cases they affect the peripheral fingers, although it is possible that all fingers are affected. Depending on the location of the extra toe, polydactyly can be further classified into three types: pre, post, and central axial forms. Polydactyly can occur as an isolated (nonsyndromic) disorder or together with other symptoms or diseases. Isolated polydactyly is typically caused by inheritance of an autosomal dominant genetic mutation, meaning the cause is not due to a multifactorial trait. However, most cases of polydactylism are linked to specific syndromes that cause congenital anomalies through a variety of genetic mutations. Genetic research has linked the cause of two types of polydactylism, postaxial and preaxial, to different genetic mutations. A particular example is a frameshift mutation in the GLI3 gene on chromosome 7. GLI3 stands for GLI family zinc finger 3 and is a transcription factor vital for proper early development, as it plays a role in patterning tissues and organs during embryonic development. Therefore, many congenital anomalies, such as polydactyly, can be linked to the improper expression of this gene. Post-axial polydactyly (PAP) is characterized by the development of an extra digit adjacent to the little finger or toe. half of the paper......at the base of the peduncle. This would clearly be preferable to performing surgery, but may be more applicable in cases of type B polydactyly than type A. Out of a total of 21 cases examined, this procedure resulted in a slight complication in only one case , in which the finger had to be surgically removed due to failure of removal by suture ligation. The only real side effect of this simple treatment is that in 43% of cases the presence of a small bump was found at the site. While some work has been done on the genetic basis of polydactyly, advances in examining the human genome may create a better understanding of the condition in the future. Much of the work done so far has focused on animal models and there is still room for further work to uncover the genetic basis of different types of polydactyly in humans.