Forensic technique 'among the best'
Updated on 10 November 2008
State-of-the-art forensic techniques to find fingerprints on bullets has been named as one of this year's top inventions.
Dr John Bond, scientific support manager at Northamptonshire Police, developed the technique which has made it into Time Magazine's top 50 inventions of 2008.
Dr Bond, also an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Leicester's Forensic Research Centre, said they had already used the technique to find prints in crimes where other methods had failed.
The scientific breakthrough, announced earlier this year, detects where sweat has corroded metal on bullets, even where it has been wiped off.
Dr Bond said they had found the method worked well on certain metals including brass - often used for bullet casings.
He said it may also be possible, on fragments of bombs, to find prints of those who handled them before they exploded.
His method has now been hailed as one of the top 50 inventions this year by Time Magazine.
The well-respected publication's citation, which puts the technique at number 39 in the list, says: "English physicist John Bond developed a technique for analysing fingerprints on a gun after it's been wiped clean.
"Sweat corrodes metal, so Bond applied an electrical charge and a fine carbon powder to a gun's corroded part, revealing a fingerprint pattern. Police are already using the four-month-old technology to reopen some cases."
The accolade puts the fingerprint visualisation alongside other creations, including a retail DNA test, and the baseball instant replay.
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