Graduation Year

2024

Date of Submission

4-2024

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

W.M. Keck Science Department

Second Department

Biology

Reader 1

Mary Hatcher-Skeers

Reader 2

Ethan Van-Arnam

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Abstract

Fingerprinting is an integral part of the field of forensic science, providing a reliable way to help criminal cases. Latent fingerprints have been a common and reliable form of fingerprints left at scenes. Latent fingerprints are made up of many components, including lipids. These lipids can be analyzed using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). SERS provides investigators an alternate way to identify a suspect’s age, gender, and diet characteristics, information that may not be found otherwise. The purpose of this current project is to analyze what characteristics can be identified by analyzing the lipid composition of fingerprints and the practicability of this method. The proposed research includes getting samples from 1,000 participants of different ages, genders, and races. These samples will then be analyzed using SERS and the results will be compared to existing fingerprint analysis methods. This study aims to improve the accuracy of existing methods and expand the understanding of the importance of biological traces at crime scenes.

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This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.

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