|
Not Ranked
:
+0 / -0
0 score
Crime and Chemistry
If you’ve ever considered a career change from chemistry to criminality, you had better think hard before swapping your safety specs for a balaclava. US researchers have developed a new technique for analysing fingerprints that could point the finger at you before you’ve even had the chance to pack your bags and flee.
The technique designed to analyse fingerprints at the crime scene, with no sample preparation, relies on desorption electrospray ionisation (DESI) mass spectrometry; a ‘soft’ ionisation technique able to maintain the integrity of the print.
Analysis of solvent droplets, sprayed onto the fingerprinted surface, can instantly reveal not only a standard fingerprint image but also minute traces of any potentially incriminating compound. This is a crucial difference to standard fingerprint analysis and potentially invaluable in differentiating overlapping prints.
To illustrate the power of the technique, the group focused on the detection of illegal drugs such as cocaine and THC (the psychoactive component of cannabis) as well as explosive compounds. The technique could however be applied to any compound of interest.
Other applications, with perhaps less criminal undertones, have been suggested within the field of biomedical research. Identification of biological metabolites or other compounds in fingertip secretions could provide a valuable insight into processes happening deep within the body.
It remains to be seen if this technology will be used in practice, but we can be safe in the knowledge that chemists are on the case.
Last edited by pamela; 08-29-2009 at 08:55 PM..
Reason: remove spam link
|
