KBTV

KBTV::Fingerprinting: A Window into the Mind ... Part I

SCRIPT: (August 13, 2007)

Good morning. Welcome to KBTVonline ... Thanks for joining! Today our saga on creepy, yet innovative technology continues as we begin a three-part series called "Fingerprints: A Window into the Mind." Scientists are experimenting with new research to create what they’re calling "brain fingerprints" – this is an amalgamation of fingerprint technology and mind mapping -- and its being used to discover the most personal information about people … what they eat, their sexual orientation … even to determine whether or not they’re lying! Today, in part one of the series, we’ll focus on some innovative research -- just out from a group of scientists in London -- that allows law enforcement officials to tell some of the most intimate details about a person, just from a fingerprint.

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Scientists at Imperial College of London have shown that fingerprints contain information that clues us in on a person’s day-to-day habits. Yes, these researchers say they can now identify a person’s key behavioral patterns – just by carefully studying their fingerprints. Just one, single drop of sweat can tell a person’s eating and smoking habits, as well as a person’s sex. In other words, they no longer need blood. The technology allows law enforcement officers to build the beginnings of profile … simply based on a single thumb print left … say … at a crime scene.

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So how does it all work? The professors at the Imperial of London say they identify the chemical pattern inside the fingerprint … that is where the crucial infomation lies. For example, the number of proteins present in the identifying fingerprint can show whether or not someone is a vegetarian. The same goes for smokers – your fingerprints leave thinly-veiled traces of nicotine. As reported by the journal of Analytical Chemistry, the collection of sweat, grease and other liquid left behind with a fingerprint is what allows the analysis to be done.

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Remember this way of studying fingerprints is brand new. Therefore, CSIs at crime scenes can no longer collect finger prints using the traditional … brushing of power … then lifting them with tape. This distorts the fragile, molecular chemical structure needed to study the print. Instead this collection technique seeks to preserve the entire print — with a gelatin-based, sticky strip of adhesive, a steady hand, and an almost obsessive attention to detail. Once the sample is collected, infra-red technology is used to scan the fingerprint, providing a breakdown of the chemicals present in the print left behind. The good news here is that fingerprints can still be collected from a wide variety of surfaces – from door handles, eye glasses, surfaces of cars and countertops … basically anything your hand touches.

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So you might be asking yourself why? What exactly are scientists attempting to track using this new technology? I asked my source at the FBI … what’s new here? First, he tells me, Crime Scene Investigations are not what you see on network television. They almost never have that kind of pristine evidence shown in CSI Miami. He tells me if a crime scene is not corrupted by the criminal itself – it is often old. With this new technology … law enforcement officials can determine how old the crime scene is, the sex of the person or people who were there, there basic eating and smoking habits … whether or not they ingested prescription or drugs and perhaps most importantly traces of gun power and biological or chemical weapons.

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The good news here is that the analysis can be done with equipment already in place at crime labs, so law enforcement agencies could have this technology in hand within the next year. Tune in tomorrow – Wednesday – to learn how scientists, through a technique called brain fingerprinting, are able to discern a person’s propensity for anti-social behavior … read are they prone to be a criminals? Or not. Also, don’t forget to tune in the following day … Thursday … for the conclusion of this original KBTVonline series … as we take a closer look at the ultimate lie detector test! I’m Kate Bohner … see you tomorrow.

posted by katebohner @ 5:40 PM