What does fingerprint involve?

Answer 1

POLICE take finger prints to identify someone. The old method involves pressing each finger onto an ink pad and pressing each on a card to leave an impression. They usually take an impression of each finger. Modern techniques use a digital scanner that uses a device that scans your finger as it is pressed against a device like a flat-bed scanner with a glass. The finger print is displayed on the computer screen and saved. FBI developed sofware that transfers the features of the finger print into a computer identify and stores it into a database. "Fingerprinting" is a term that has other meanings that means to identify an unknown substance or item. So there may be other definitions for this. *

"Fingerprinting" is used metaphorically in the term "DNA fingerprinting" (also called DNA typing or DNA profiling). This is a process of examining the lengths of selected segments of DNA that are particularly variable between individuals. The technology includes PCR (the polymerase chain reaction) to amplify the target segments, i.e. make many millions of copies of them; slab gel or capillary electrophoresis to separate the DNA segments of different length; and some process of staining or fluorescence to make the DNA markers show up. This process can uniquely identify an individual, and people who have been wrongly jailed have subsequently been proven innocent using DNA fingerprinting. The process can also be used for paternity investigations, identifying human remains, and similar purposes.

Answer 2

Fingerprinting involves capturing an individual's unique patterns of ridges and valleys on their fingertips by pressing them onto a special inkpad or digital scanner. These prints can then be compared to databases for identification purposes, as each person has a distinct set of fingerprints.