See Also: DNA fingerprinting(medicine)
fingerprinting(medicine)
DNA fingerprinting(encyclopedia)
fingerprinting(encyclopedia)
fingerprinting(dictionary)
genetic fingerprinting(medicine)
genetic fingerprinting(dictionary)

fingerprinting (sh)




Act of taking an impression of a person's fingerprint.

Because each person's fingerprints are unique, fingerprinting is used as a method of identification, especially in police investigations. The standard method of fingerprint classification was developed by Sir Francis Galton and Sir Edward Henry; their system was officially introduced at Scotland Yard in 1901. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation maintains a fingerprint file on more than 250 million people; fingerprints retrieved from a crime scene may be compared with those on file to identify suspects. DNA analysis, which examines regions of DNA unique to each person, is sometimes called DNA fingerprinting.