Louisiana State University. "Taking the guesswork out of forensic analysis of fingermarks." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 13 June 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170613111624.htm>.
For my current event report, I decided to read and analyze the article “Taking the guesswork out of forensic analysis of fingermarks,” from the online news source Science Daily. The article discusses the scientific developments of researchers Fabrizio Donnarumma, Eden E. Camp, Fan Cao, Kermit K. Murray. These scientists have developed an “infrared laser” which “takes the mystery out of the process of identifying the chemical compositions of fingermarks at a crime scene.” This instrument will allow other forensic scientists to easily and swiftly capture the marks of fingerprints without disrupting the evidence. The device would also allow scientists to remove the finger marks from a surface and then analyze the many molecules in the print, including lipids, proteins, and other genetic materials. Using these newfound features, the team is working on prototypes of more portable lasers to be easily used at crime scenes. It can also identify different substances found in explosives. The process, referred to as laser ablation, involves angling a specialized laser onto the surface that contains a fingerprint. The laser heats up the area it is directed at and causes all of the water, in proximity to the print, to become gaseous. The gaseous water brings all molecules with it when sucked into the device’s vacuum. Once all molecules are safely collected into the vacuum container, they can be analyzed and further identified. The team is also in communication with several law enforcement institutions to establish better fingerprint identifying protocol and to inform other forensic scientists about easier methods used when identifying the chemical composition of a fingerprint.
Considering the fact that this article concerns the collection and identification of molecules on fingerprints, it is evident that it plays an extremely important role in the future of forensic science. If the portable laser ablation devices are perfected and dispersed among law enforcement institutions across the world, then the processes of fingerprint identification and analyzation will be much easier and more effective. This can lead to quicker arrests and more evidence to be offered during court trials. This would surely lead to a safer world as arrests would become much more definite and conclusive. The other molecules found among the fingerprints could also aid law enforcers in the countless different types of investigations, ranging from burglary charges to homicide, depending on what molecules were found among the fingerprints. The device would also prevent any interference and tampering with the crucial, and limited, evidence.
Overall, I believe that the article “Taking the guesswork out of forensic analysis of fingermarks,” was extremely well written and equally informative. The authors were able to describe the complicated and advance scientific instrument at hand while relating back to it’s uses and how it could deeply change the world of forensic science. The authors go into amazing detail surrounding the exact functions the laser. There is even information surrounding the different molecules that could possibly be found along with the fingerprints at the scene of a crime. In an effort to improve the article, the authors should have supplied the reader with more information surrounding the development of the scientific instrument. It would be interesting to know when exactly the instrument is going to be put into use by different law enforcement agencies. The authors could have further improved the article by describing a detailed example of the laser instrument in one of its many mock experiments to the readers. This would have given the readers a better idea of the process the forensic scientists go through to set up the device and the process the instrument goes through to gather the different types of molecules.
4 comments:
For someone enrolled in his first Forensics science class this article served as very important, as it spoke of a major technological advancement in the Forensic Sciences.This recently developed machine combats the never ending struggle of reserving DNA using laser technology, and it also stabilizes more accurate results using and "infrared laser". This review also stresses that this would be an effective measure if evenly dispersed among law force worldwide.
This review was very well done. I really like how she was able to explain a very complicated subject so simplistically and easily when providing the background for the article. She describes the issues associated with fingerprint "guesswork" and explains the solution to this problem quite well, with a seemingly good knowledge of the topic at hand. I also really like how she explains the actual machinery and technology that makes this process possible, going in depth into the sort of materials and evidence that can be found using it. Another great aspect of this review is how she expresses her own opinion, showing how she feels this method can affect the future of forensic science.
Despite all these positives, I do have a few suggestions. The second paragraph seems a little rushed and deserves a little more detail. Also, sometimes she went on about a small detail that wasted space that could be filled by a more important aspect. One part of the article that blew my mind was when she goes into detail about how the entire crime world could change due to this breakthrough, she states that evidence found against perpetrators would be more conclusive leading to more arrests and overall better crime solving. With all this said, it is clear that this review is exceptionally well written and the author really did do a good job getting the point of the article across in an educational and simple way.
Mairead chose an article about a new invention to read fingerprints. I chose to comment on her report as the Iphone uses your fingerprint as a password and I have become more fascinated with fingerprints recently. I really liked how Mairead talked about how the fingerprint laser works and used quotes from the article to further explain it. I liked how she went into detail about how the laser can also detect what proteins are on the fingerprint by simply heating them into a gaseous state then analyzing the gasses. Lastly I liked how she went in depth and really covered every aspect of the article to give a very complete summary.
However there were a few things that I would have liked more information about. I wish there was some information on how large the machines are. She talked about how they are trying to make them smaller for in the field use. But are they currently too big that they are very situational in use? Also I wish it talked about their current useage. I wonder if since these machines are pretty new have they used to solve any cases if so were they formerly cold cases but with this new way to find information re opened and solved.
I learned that even though we already have multiple techniques to find fingerprints scientists still work to make an even better way of reading them. I learned that science never rests and the job of finding new and better technologies never stops as it could always be more accurate or smaller or lighter. I think that this new technology is really cool. In the field of forensics there are always new advancements being made. I hope that with more inventions like this that we can minimize crime or at least find the suspects sooner than before thus leading to less cold cases.
For someone enrolled in his first Forensics science class this article served as very important, as it spoke of a major technological advancement in the Forensic Sciences.This recently developed machine combats the never ending struggle of reserving DNA using laser technology, and it also stabilizes more accurate results using and "infrared laser". This review also stresses that this would be an effective measure if evenly dispersed among law force worldwide. Surprisingly mairead simplified a very complex topic into something her readers could understand quite easily. This article is also more important as fingerprint technology has recently become an everyday occurence for alot of iphone users. It is also quite amazing how simply heating the proteins on a fingerprint can allow us to analyze them even further it really makes you wonder how much further forensics can come until we can eradicate the mystery of murder. However, alot of it was quite ambiguous for one the specifics of the machine, she went on to say the developers were attempting to modernize it and reduce its size but spoke nothing of it's current dimentions. She also didnt describe the mechanisms behind the machines as much as the proccesss of retrieving the gaseous evidence from the laser technology. It wqas also quite unclear of the machines current status if it was still a prototype or officially used in any police departments.
this article and write up overall were simply amazing, I often ponder about technological advancement and in the case of Forensics it shouldn't be long untill we can fully eradicarte the mystery of murder.
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