那些藏在指紋裏的祕密
Before the discovery of DNA profiling in the 1980s, fingerprints were the easiest way to solve serious crimes.
在上世紀80年代DNA分析技術問世之前，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，每個人的指紋都獨一無二。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.
《對話》網站的梅蘭妮·貝利認爲，指紋可以體現一個人的生活方式、所處環境、飲食習慣、潛在的健康問題甚至職業。So how can we figure all this out from just a simple fingerprint?
所以我們如何從一枚小小的指紋中獲知這一切呢？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.
當手指和物體表面接觸時，指紋就形成了。大多數的指紋都並非肉眼可見，需要經過化學顯影處理來讓它們“現形”。而在指紋隆起的紋路之間就隱藏着包含我們信息的物質。汗漬、血液以及食物的痕跡透露了許多關於我們的信息 —— 像是接觸了什麼、吃了些什麼、甚至是吃了什麼藥。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.
擔任英國薩里大學化學講師的貝利表示，現今，檢測這些物質的技術大多用於刑偵，但其應用可以更爲廣泛。例如，她和科研同事們能夠通過指紋判斷人們服用的藥物，這點或許將來在醫生治療病患時能派上大用場。
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.
指紋檢驗或許還能告訴醫生病患是否能充分吸收所開的處方藥。在治療某些最爲嚴重的疾病時，人體對這些藥物的吸收至關重要。正如《科學美國人》雜誌所指出的那樣，這點對心臟病病人和精神病人而言尤爲重要，因爲這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.
而儘管人們普遍認爲指紋永遠不會變，但實際上，指紋的確會改變 —— 而它們改變的方式也能提供大量有用的信息。在將來，指紋科學並不會侷限於犯罪實驗室，還能助醫生一臂之力，讓我們儘可能地保持健康。
