News in Brief Chemistry

Fingerprints give away more than identity

Method detects tiny specks of cocaine, other illegal drugs stuck in whorls

drugs in fingerprints

TOUCH OF DRUGS  This fingerprint is laced with tiny traces of cocaine, as detected by a new method.

S. Muramoto et al/Analytical Chemistry 2015

By Beth Mole

- More than 2 years ago

The one-of-a-kind pattern of ridges and valleys in a fingerprint may not only betray who was present at a crime scene.