Famous Sad Love Quotes: Fingerprints breakthrough will reveal if criminal suspect has taken drugs or been in contact with explosives

Friday, August 5, 2011

Fingerprints breakthrough will reveal if criminal suspect has taken drugs or been in contact with explosives

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By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 6:23 PM on 5th August 2011

Fingerprint technology could be about to take a big leap forward

New fingerprint technology could soon provide detailed information such as what a suspect ate or drank and even tell police what time they were at a location.

Researchers at Sheffield Hallam University are currently involved in tests of the new technology.

It uses a laser to identify molecules in the sweat that fingerprints are formed from.

Even though the technology is at least three years away from being implemented by the police, researchers have already successfully developed a method for testing substances a suspect has touched.

It works even when the fingerprint has been distorted or is incomplete.

Current police methods scan the ridge pattern to compare with database records.

This new method examines material from the skin surface and human gland secretions.

Anything that can be secreted in sweat can be picked up in fingerprints because they are a simple deposit of sweat,' said Dr Simona Francese from the university's Biomedical Research Centre.

'It would be reasonable to think that you might pick up dietary habits of people. The profile of a vegetarian could be very different from a meat-eater. You could pick up whether a person was a smoker, a passive smoker or not.'

The technology might also be able to tell police if a suspect is under the influence of drugs.

New technology could vastly improve what information is currently available from fingerprint tests

'I found a caffeine signature on my own prints, which increased as my body absorbed the drink,' added Francese. 'It would be reasonable to think that you might pick up dietary habits of people.

'The profile of a vegetarian could be very different from a meat-eater. You could pick up whether a person was a smoker, a passive smoker or not.'

There is additional evidence to suggest it may be possible to determine a person's gender or ethnicity from the chemical make-up of sweat, she added.

Fingerprint technology has moved on leaps and bounds in the last few decades

The university research is being supported by an £80,000 fund by the Home Office.

The Home Office now wants to explore if the technology can be used to test for illegal substances such as explosives, which could give it a huge boost in fighting terrorism.