Studies have led to a new finger mark analysis technique which can identify key details about suspects and might be used to detect substances they might have touched. It can provide important background information, especially if the suspect’s fingerprint is not on the police database. A finger mark is made up of material from the surface of the skin and from gland secretions, which can be detected and analyzed. Conventionally, finger marks found at the site of a crime are lifted, often using a powder, and are compared with prints on a police database to identify a suspect. These study used matrix-assisted lasers desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI), to map different molecules within tissue sections and to analyze and produce images of finger marks. This technique has an advantage that it does not affect the finger mark, so it can still be analyzed by classic forensic approaches afterwards.
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