Ever Thought of A Fingerprint ID?
2019-3-10
An interesting analysis published on Chemical and Engineer New last Sunday, uncovered a striking function of our fingerprints.
In the old times, DNA from archived fingerprints may be “the only chance” for bological evidence. But in recent years, researchers had been exploring the possibility of retrieving usable DNA profiles from fingerprints collected decades earlier.
Fingerprinting research usually focuses on latent fingerprints. These patterned deposits of sweat, skin cells, and other substances are often smudged, small or imcomplete when colleges from a crime scene.
Today Latent fingerprint collection is “a staple of every crime scene” where there are surfaces from which prints can be lifted. Forensic technicians typically visualize the prints by dusting them with powder and lifting them with adhesive tape, using a dye stain, or fuming the area with cyanoacrylate (vaporized superglue). The prints are then photographed or scanned. At that point, an examiner must decide whether a collected print is good enough to attempt an individualization. This means comparing the latent fingerprint with a fingerprint from a known subject and determining if there is enough information in the ridges and whorls to suggest both samples were left by the same person.
