Home Science How old is that fingerprint?

How old is that fingerprint?

21

Forensic dramas on TV make it seem easy to determine when fingerprints were left at the scene of a crime. In reality, the oils in fingerprints degrade over time, and it’s difficult to figure out their age. Now, researchers have discovered molecular markers for changes to these oils over a seven-day time period — information that could be used to estimate fingerprints’ ages more accurately.

Source: ScienceDaily.com