Whenever I read the word 'fingerprints' anywhere, I immediately think of Sherlock Holmes. An image pops up of the famous sleuth holding a magnifying glass. Amazing! Yes, interestingly, we associate fingerprints with crime. In most whodunits, the first action taken is to look for fingerprints. We watch detectives laboriously search for these clues. And, if they are lucky in their investigations, the criminal is finally apprehended since the fingerprints match.

Did you know that fingerprints are different for every person and can never be altered? Every individual has a completely different arrangement of loops and ridges. No two fingerprints have ever been found to be alike. In fact, no two fingerprints on the same hand have ever been found to be alike. The pattern you see on your fingertips will remain with you for the rest of your life. Therefore, a fingerprint is considered a positive proof to help identify a person. And this is how fingerprints left at a crime scene enable detectives to catch the culprits. Look at the tips of your fingers. What do you see? Countless lines, unending and making circular shapes? These lines are called ridges and their pattern makes a 'fingerprint'. You will have noticed that the ridges are arranged in patterns of loops, arches and spirals, and they are mainly predominant at the tips. There are two types of loop patterns: ulnar loop and radial loop. There are two types of arch patterns: plain arch and tented arch. Great interest was shown in fingerprinting even as far back in time as 1686. Marcello Malpighi, an Italian anatomy professor, studied the ridges of fingerprints under a microscope. His studies proved an important contribution to the science of fingerprinting for he observed that these ridges were actually arranged in patterns of loops and spirals. In 1892, Sir Francis Galton, an English scientist, was the first to prove that no two fingerprints were alike. Also, he was the first one to set up a collection of fingerprint records. Thriller movies often show how a database of fingerprints helps in catching criminals and lawbreakers. In real life too, this is how they are caught. Fingerprints act like the final nail in their coffin. An incredible fact is that even if the skin of the fingertips is burnt several times in succession, the same fingerprints appear each time after the burn wounds heal. Read books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie and you will be amazed to note the importance of fingerprints. Happy sleuthing!