Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Fingerprints can tell a lot more about people — what they’ve touched, what they’ve eaten, what drugs they’ve taken — than just their identities. Now, a new analytic tool could make it easier to spot terrorists and to diagnose diseases from telltale chemical markers, but could also pose new privacy risks.
The method, described in the Aug. 8 Science, can map a fingerprint based on the presence of virtually any water-soluble chemical. “It’s the difference between a black-and-white picture and a full-color picture,” says chemist Graham Cooks of PurdueUniversity in West Lafayette, Ind.