Fingerprints

**The Development of Latent Fingerprints using Ninhydrin and Cyanoacrylate. **The purpose of this lab was to determine which method, ninhydrin or cyanoacrylate, works best for developing latent fingerprints. Ninhydrin is a substance that, when heated, reacts with the amino acids and other organic material in fingerprints to turn them purple. Cyanoacrylate is a substance that also reacts with the amino acids in fingerprints. Instead of turning fingerprints purple, cyanoacrylate forms a white substance over the fingerprints in order to make them more visible. It was determined in this lab that ninhydrin is a better developer for latent prints than cyanoacrylate. A general reason for this conclusion may be that it is easier to see purple prints on white paper, which is what the ninhydrin produced, than it is to see white prints on a clear slide, which is what the cyanoacrylate produced. Key words: Latent Fingerprints, Amino Acids, Organic Materials, Ninhydrin, Cyanoacrylate. media type="file" key="Heather and Catricia Fingerprints Lab.wav" width="300" height="50" Heather and Catricia talk about their lab

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Sources:

Journal 1 - The Cyanoacrylate Fuming Method by Eric W. Brown: []  Brown, E.W. (1990). //The cyanoacrylate fuming method//. Retrieved from []

Journal 2- Fingerprints and Ninhydrin by Wolosin: [] Wolosin. (n.d.). Fingerprints & ninhydrin. //Forensic Science//, Retrieved from []