Eve Balseiro
Forensics Current Event 19
3/22/2020
Lu, Donna. “A Fingerprint Can Show If Someone Has Taken Cocaine or Just Touched It.” New Scientist, 6 Feb. 2020, www.newscientist.com/article/2232622-a-fingerprint-can-show-if-someone-has-taken-cocaine-or-just-touched-it/.
Donna Lu’s article “A Fingerprint Can Show If Someone Has Taken Cocaine or Just Touched It” explores a recent advancement in forensic science. Developed at the University of Surrey in the UK, this test is much quicker than a blood test lasting less than two minutes. In addition to identifying traces of cocaine from the skin, the test can identify cocaine in one’s system. “...the test picks up on a molecule called benzoylecgonine, which is excreted through the skin after a person has ingested cocaine”. To test, the person suspected of cocaine use places their finger onto a specialized paper for merely ten seconds. To detect cocaine, scientists utilize a technique called mass spectrometry.
Lu’s article is extremely relevant to the public as this speeds up the process of testing for cocaine immensely. In most cases, to test for cocaine you must conduct a blood test. Now forensic scientists can have their results in less than two minutes. Within a larger case, this can allow investigators to eliminate suspects or follow leads much faster.
For Lu to improve her article, I think it would have more effective had she further explained the process of blood testing for cocaine vs this new method. She only explained that it was much faster but gave the reader no amounts of time to compare. Overall, Lu did a very good job summarizing and explaining the process of the new test for cocaine.
1 comment:
Madison Meehan
3/22/20
Lu, Donna. “A Fingerprint Can Show If Someone Has Taken Cocaine or Just Touched It.” New
Scientist, 6 Feb. 2020,
www.newscientist.com/article/2232622-a-fingerprint-can-show-if-someone-has-taken-co
caine-or-just-touched-it/.
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4250390869532540972&postID=2795960659318364719
Eve’s current event about the article, “A Fingerprint Can Show If Someone Has Taken Cocaine or Just Touched It” by Donna Lu was extremely interesting. Eve summarized this article very well in her first paragaph, which helped me understand the rest of her current event. She also made sure to include many quotes from the article, which supported her opinions very well. One last thing Eve did very well was picking an article that related to forensic science. This article showed how valuble fingerprints are in forensics, which I believe is beneficial for everyone in this class.
Although Eve did a great job with her current event, there were some things she could work on to make it better. One thing she could’ve done differently was be a little more specific in her conclusion while criticizing the article. One last part she could have done better was explain processes a little better because some parts were definitely confusing for me to follor and understand.
I enjoyed reading Eve’s current event and article she chose a lot and I definitely learned a lot. I learned more about fingerprints and just how much of an impact they can make on cases with the help of a forensic scientist. I can now connect this knowledge to other parts of forensics or other cases we look at in the future.
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