Posted on 05/18/2007 2:05:18 PM PDT by bedolido
Images that show how fingerprints can be used to reveal whether you are a smoker, an avid coffee drinker or even a drug addict have been revealed by UK scientists.
They were produced using a novel forensic technique that could in future be used on fingerprints collected at a crime scene. If the prints in question are not on file, this would still give police a powerful way to shrink their pool of suspects, by identifying their lifestyle habits.
The technique was developed by a team of forensics experts at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich, and King's College in London, both in the UK.
It exploits the fact that the breakdown products - metabolites - of substances people consume are deposited in sweat found in pores in their fingerprint ridges. To detect these metabolites they use gold nanoparticles.
Washing no defence
The researchers, led by David Russell at UEA, claimed in 2006 that fingerprints could be used in this way (see Fingerprints reveal lifestyle habits. Now they have shown that it works in practise, even shortly after someone has washed their hands.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientisttech.com ...
One word: Gloves.
Don’t need to analyze a fingerprint to figure out these things.
Yellow stains on the fingers for smokers and stains on the teeth for coffee.
Last a druggie usually have “that” general look about them.
But what about Twinkie residue?
Oh joy.
It sounds less like fingerprint analysis and more like simple and, dare I say, obvious chemical analysis.
I thought these guys had done something cool like Lumidigm and their multi-spectral imaging. One of the Disney hell holes runs Lumidigm’s amazingly accurate fingerprint scanners to match your ticket to you.
I suppose that adage about hair on the hands is mentioned in the original paper...
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