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AberSci: Forensics

AberSci: Forensics

By: Ben Jones
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Forensic & analytical science research from Abertay University Policing, Security & Forensic Science group. Topics include fingerprints, fabrics, trace evidence, chemical attacks, drug analysis, food contamination...

© 2025 AberSci: Forensics Hygiene & Healthy Living Natural History Nature & Ecology Science
Episodes
  • Hidden in our fingerprints

    Hidden in our fingerprints
    May 5 2025

    What if your fingerprint could tell you more than just who you are?

    In this episode, Jack Hogan dives into the world of forensic science and fingerprints with Abertay MSci student Josh Raybould to find out if our fingerprints could one day reveal hidden information about us.

    By using a special microscope that ‘feels’ the surface of samples, Josh was able to
    look at the smaller details of fingerprints left on glass slides for 14 days, revealing a
    hidden world of microscopic crystal structures. What’s even more exciting is that
    these tiny crystals appear different between male and females. But why?
    Well, it turns out that the things that make up our sweat, like amino acids and fatty
    acids, might change how these crystals grow over time. This means that forensic
    investigators of the future might not just be asking who left a fingerprint, but when
    they left it, and even further questions about that person’s body chemistry.

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    7 mins
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