Brunelle Erica, Eldridge Morgan, Halámek Jan
Department of Chemistry, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, New York 12222, United States.
ACS Omega. 2021 May 6;6(19):12898-12903. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.1c01344. eCollection 2021 May 18.
Past investigations involving fingerprints have revolved heavily around the image of the fingerprint-including the minutiae, scarring, and other distinguishing features-to visually find a match to its originator. Recently, it has been proven that the biochemical composition can be used to determine originator attributes, such as sex, via chemical and enzymatic cascades. While this provides pertinent information about the originator's identity, it is not the only piece of information that can be provided. This research was designed with three goals in mind: (1) identify how long it would take before an aged female fingerprint could no longer be differentiated from a male fingerprint, (2) identify a correlation between the data collected and a specific time since deposition (TSD) time point, and (3) identify if a specific amino acid could be contributing to the decreasing response seen for the aging fingerprints. Using ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, aged fingerprints were evaluated over the course of 12 weeks via three chemical assays previously used for fingerprint analysis-the ninhydrin assay, the Bradford assay, and the Sakaguchi assay. As fingerprints age, the conditions they are exposed to cause the biochemical composition to decompose. As this occurs, there is less available to be detected by analytical means. This results in a less intense color production and, thus, a lower measured absorbance. The results displayed here afforded the ability to conclude that all three goals set forth for this research were accomplished-a female fingerprint can be differentiated from a male fingerprint for at least 12 weeks, UV-vis data collected from aged fingerprints can be correlated to a TSD range but not necessarily a specific time point, and the decomposition of at least a single amino acid can afford the ability to estimate the TSD of the fingerprint.
过去涉及指纹的调查主要围绕指纹图像展开，包括细节特征、疤痕及其他显著特征，以便从视觉上找到与指纹所有者的匹配对象。最近，已有研究证明，通过化学和酶促反应，指纹的生化成分可用于确定所有者的属性，如性别。虽然这提供了有关所有者身份的相关信息，但它并非唯一能提供的信息。本研究旨在实现三个目标：（1）确定老化的女性指纹在多长时间后无法再与男性指纹区分开来；（2）确定所收集的数据与自沉积时间（TSD）特定时间点之间的相关性；（3）确定是否有一种特定氨基酸会导致老化指纹的反应减弱。通过紫外可见（UV-vis）光谱法，利用先前用于指纹分析的三种化学分析方法——茚三酮分析法、考马斯亮蓝分析法和坂口分析法，在12周的时间里对老化指纹进行评估。随着指纹老化，它们所接触的环境会导致其生化成分分解。发生这种情况时，可供分析检测的成分就会减少。这导致显色变浅，从而使测得的吸光度降低。此处展示的结果表明，本研究设定的所有三个目标均已实现——女性指纹至少在12周内可与男性指纹区分开来；从老化指纹收集的UV-vis数据可与TSD范围相关联，但不一定与特定时间点相关联；至少一种氨基酸的分解能够估算指纹的TSD。
