Scientists at the world-leading Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester – where the revolutionary technique of genetic fingerprinting was invented by Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys- are developing techniques which may one day allow police to work out someone's surname from the DNA alone.

Electronic fingerprinting, iris scans, and signature recognition software are all becoming commonplace biometrics for user authentication and security. However, they all suffer from one major drawback - they can be spoofed by a sufficiently sophisticated intruder.

Agarose gel electrophoresis" Most teenagers wouldn’t have a clue what this scientific term means, but middle school student Andrew Trigiano knows the protocol inside and out. When Andrew was 12, his father Robert Trigiano, a professor at the University of Tennessee, was looking for an interesting science project for his son.

Shine a white light on the Hope Diamond and it will dazzle you with the brilliance of an amazing blue diamond. Shine an ultraviolet light on the Hope Diamond and the gem will glow red-orange for about five minutes.

A new fingerprinting technique could potentially detect the diet, race and sex of a suspected criminal, according to new research published in the August edition of the journal Analytical Chemistry.

In a finding that should get a “thumbs up” from CSI fans, researchers in the United Kingdom are reporting development of a fast new fingerprinting method that shows promise for improving the collection and analysis of fingerprints from crime scenes. The finding is scheduled for publication in the August 1 issue of ACS’ Analytical Chemistry, a semi-monthly journal.