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Researchers at the University of Newcastle have developed a nano powder, which will enable fingerprints to disclose the sex of a suspect, as well as what they have eaten and drunk – and whether they may have fired a gun recently or handled explosives.

The Daily Mail reports that the research will lead to fingerprints which are 40% clearer than the current technology allows.

Prints from SupraNano powder can also be processed in five minutes at the university’s Arro SupraNano lab – or using the patented SupraNano analytics kit.

It is thought being able to detect lifestyle patterns such as the sex of a suspect and diet and drug or alcohol use could help speed up detection rates.

Managing director of Arro SupraNano, Eamonn Cooney said:

“A murder case can cost between £1 million and £3m, with most of that in time and legwork.

”But with this test you can say male or female, whether they are on medication, what their lifestyle is – are they taking or distributing drugs? – or if they are a terrorist.

“If you took 100 suspects and had each of them take the test, then you could narrow it down to two or three very quickly.”

The development follows on the heels of similar research into improving fingerprinting by Sheffield Hallam University.

The Daily Mail reports the university’s Biomedical Research Centre has developed Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionisation Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MALDI-MSI), which can detect microscopic substances in fingerprint patterns by making multiple images of fingerprints. Substances like hair products, chemicals and cleaning products can be detected using MALDI-MSI technology.

Nano-particle fingerprinting using SupraNano powder can also detect minute traces of substances in fingerprints because the ultra-fine particles in the powder penetrate the ridges in fingertips more easily.

Fingertips also emit secretions from glands in the skin, which makes substances adhere to the skin in the fingertip’s ridges.

Drugs and medications are also emitted through the skin’s pores as nano particles – minute traces of the substance or its by-products.

Mr Cooney said that fingerprinting technology had not “changed much” since it was first developed.

“You go to a crime scene, brush with powder, lift the print with tape, take a photo and record it on a national database. But we've done two new things with nano particles.

“Our powder adheres much more closely to the ridges and troughs of a fingerprint, as the particles are chemically very sticky – …really important, as for comparison you're looking for twelve to twenty points and prints are often smudged.”

Professor Frederick Rowell of Sunderland University first developed the nano powder and patented analytical test in 2005.

The SupraNano fingerprinting powder launched in January this year and the analytical test is due to come to market in the next few months.

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