THE sweaty, greasy residue that forms a fingerprint might one day reveal the
identity of a criminal as surely as the pattern of whorls and ridges.
Whenever we touch something, we leave behind a minute residue of proteins,
salts and fatty acids. Because the exact proportions of these components vary
between individuals, some forensic scientists suspect that a chemical
fingerprint could be as unique as a physical one.
Getting information from such tiny samples can be tricky. But a team led by
Dale Perry of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California told the
American Chemical Society meeting in Chicago…
