那些藏在指紋里的秘密

Before the discovery of DNA profiling in the 1980s, fingerprints were the easiest way to solve serious crimes.

在上世紀(jì)80年代DNA分析技術(shù)問世之前，指紋是破解重大刑事案件最容易的方法。

It’s believed that of the 7 billion or so people on Earth, each one of us has our own unique fingerprints.

人們相信，在地球約70億的人口中，每個(gè)人的指紋都獨(dú)一無二。

But did you know that our fingerprints could actually reveal a lot more about us than just our identity?

但你知道嗎?除了我們的身份，指紋其實(shí)還可以透露更多信息。

According to Melanie Bailey of The Conversation, fingerprints can indicate lifestyle and environment, eating habits, possible medical problems and even the job of a person.

《對(duì)話》網(wǎng)站的梅蘭妮·貝利認(rèn)為，指紋可以體現(xiàn)一個(gè)人的生活方式、所處環(huán)境、飲食習(xí)慣、潛在的健康問題甚至職業(yè)。

So how can we figure all this out from just a simple fingerprint?

所以我們?nèi)绾螐囊幻缎⌒〉闹讣y中獲知這一切呢?

Well, a fingerprint is formed when a finger makes contact with a surface. Most fingerprints are invisible to the naked eye and require a chemical development process in order to make them visible. Stuck between the ridges of a fingerprint, however, are substances that can tell a story about who we are. Things like traces of sweat, blood, and food reveal a lot of information about us – what we’ve touched, what we’ve eaten and even what drugs we’ve taken.

當(dāng)手指和物體表面接觸時(shí)，指紋就形成了。大多數(shù)的指紋都并非肉眼可見，需要經(jīng)過化學(xué)顯影處理來讓它們“現(xiàn)形”。而在指紋隆起的紋路之間就隱藏著包含我們信息的物質(zhì)。汗?jié)n、血液以及食物的痕跡透露了許多關(guān)于我們的信息 —— 像是接觸了什么、吃了些什么、甚至是吃了什么藥。

At the moment, the technique used to detect these substances is mostly used in crime detection, but its application could be much wider, according to Bailey, who lectures in chemistry at the University of Surrey in the UK. For example, she and her fellow researchers were able to tell what medicines people were taking from their fingerprints, which may be of great help in the future to doctors treating their patients.

擔(dān)任英國薩里大學(xué)化學(xué)講師的貝利表示，現(xiàn)今，檢測(cè)這些物質(zhì)的技術(shù)大多用于刑偵，但其應(yīng)用可以更為廣泛。例如，她和科研同事們能夠通過指紋判斷人們服用的藥物，這點(diǎn)或許將來在醫(yī)生治療病患時(shí)能派上大用場(chǎng)。

A fingerprint check may also be able to tell a doctor whether a patient is properly absorbing a drug they’ve been prescribed. In the treatment of some of the most serious illnesses, it’s vital that the body is taking in these medicines. As Scientific American noted, this is particularly important for patients undergoing treatment for cardiac conditions and psychosis, as these people might struggle to absorb the drugs or forget or choose not to take them.

指紋檢驗(yàn)或許還能告訴醫(yī)生病患是否能充分吸收所開的處方藥。在治療某些最為嚴(yán)重的疾病時(shí)，人體對(duì)這些藥物的吸收至關(guān)重要。正如《科學(xué)美國人》雜志所指出的那樣，這點(diǎn)對(duì)心臟病病人和精神病人而言尤為重要，因?yàn)檫@些病人或許難以吸收藥物，或者忘記甚至選擇不服藥。

And while it’s commonly believed that our fingerprints never change, in fact, they do – and the way they change can provide a lot of very useful information. In the future, fingerprint science won’t be restricted to the crime lab but could help doctors keep us in the best possible health.

而盡管人們普遍認(rèn)為指紋永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)變，但實(shí)際上，指紋的確會(huì)改變 —— 而它們改變的方式也能提供大量有用的信息。在將來，指紋科學(xué)并不會(huì)局限于犯罪實(shí)驗(yàn)室，還能助醫(yī)生一臂之力，讓我們盡可能地保持健康。