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| Bacteria As A "Fingerprint" |
| Written by Jen Long |
| Sunday, 28 March 2010 07:31 |
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The brush and powder for fingerprinting is familiar equipment of both gumshoe wannabes and seasoned detectives. Kids' sleuth kits teach the basic method of capturing this unique identifier alongside instructions for casting footprints. Ever since the early 1900's the uniqueness of fingerprints has received widespread recognition by law enforcement as a means to narrow in on criminal suspects.
The brush and powder for fingerprinting is familiar equipment of both gumshoe wannabes and seasoned detectives. Kids' sleuth kits teach the basic method of capturing this unique identifier alongside instructions for casting footprints. Ever since the early 1900's the uniqueness of fingerprints has received widespread recognition by law enforcement as a means to narrow in on criminal suspects. Ancient Babylon used fingerprints for their unique identifying characteristics on clay tablets that recorded business transactions. However, modern forensic science did not begin to appropriate this valuable tool until 1888 when the Englishman, Sir Francis Galton, unveiled his fingerprint classification system in his book, "Fingerprints". According to Galton's calculations, there was only a chance of 1 in 64 billion for two people to share identical prints. As forensic techniques became known, criminals did their best to outwit them. Gloves became standard wear in premeditated crimes. As glove materials evolved, so did the criminals' choices. Currently, latex gloves, with their second-skin fit, are often found discarded at the border of a crime scene. Fortunately, it is quite possible to obtain fingerprints from the gloves themselves at this point. They are found left either on the outside from the criminal's donning or stripping of the glove or on the interior of a tightly fitted glove when it is turned inside out. A pair of latex gloved hands, if tightly fitted, may even leave a print on an exterior surface. After the latex is worn for a while, warming and conforming to the fingers, and the criminal touches any oily surface (something as simple as rubbing one's neck), a detectable fingerprint could conceivably transfer to objects. The devious ways of criminals will shortly be seriously challenged by a new weapon in the sleuth's arsenal. Gloves will no longer be even a medially effective means of escaping detection. It turns out that some very small critters, bacteria, which humans cannot rid themselves of are getting some serious forensic attention. Bacteria colonies living on our skin exist in unique blends of which only 13% are shared by any two individuals. Approximately 150 bacteria species reside on a human's hand. These critters transfer to make personalized trails on fabric and a wide variety of other materials on a crime scene. Their residue remains traceable for many hours. The Associated Press reports that the science behind the analysis of this new forensic evidence is of such leading edge technology that it was not even possible as recently as 2 years ago. Perhaps with the advent of this news, surgical scrub techniques will soon extend beyond the medical world to the domain of crooks who once thought latex gloves were adequate for keeping the law off their trail. However, it seems fairly unlikely that a "dirty rat" pawing through a domestic burglary or worse would be very successful in keeping his germs to himself. About the Author: Author: Jen has been a glove analyst for over tweny-nine years and PR Director for a high-volume discount web retailer of Discounted Latex Gloves where she manages a growing pool of information for those struggling with gloves: The Latex Exam Glove. |