
A form of mass spectrometry to detect traces of substances within a fingerprint - willvarfar
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-41525517
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tomalpha
Mass spectrometry has been around for decades now. I remember seeing old
(before even my time) manual plots on graph paper from the '60s. Without
wishing to detract from the researchers accomplishments, why hasn't this been
done before? What special thing are they doing that wasn't possible before?

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sigstoat
MS as a concept has been around, but new and more sensitive detector designs
are developed every so often. new ionization techniques come along as well,
which can generate ions from smaller and smaller sample quantities with less
and less preparation.

that article is devoid of useful information, but i'd guess this is the result
of one of the new ionization techniques, and it took some years after its
commercial introduction to be validated for forensic use.

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tomalpha
Ah interesting, thanks. Googling a bit more for ionization techniques suggests
you might be right, and it might be: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix-
assisted_laser_desorpti...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix-
assisted_laser_desorption/ionization) (based on a reference in
[http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-
tech/new...](http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-
tech/news/fingerprint-test-criminal-lifestyle-profile-drugs-blood-courts-
trials-maldi-mass-spectrometry-a7992621.html))

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shayaknyc
I feel like I may be missing something....are they performing MS analysis on
the powdered COPY of the fingerprint or are they analysing the actual
fingerprint (and presumably the actual item that was touched and has the
invisible fingerprint physically on it)?

If the former, then I'm not sure how they're getting accurate results.....if
the latter....that could be complicated if it's a piece of furniture or
something larger than the chamber used in the MS analysis.....

