In Print

Our skin makes us unique – we each have different communities of bacteria protecting its surfaces, as well as individual patterns of whorls and loops that define our fingerprints. First used as forensic evidence over a hundred years ago, capturing our skins details is often hampered by tricky surfaces and kit that is both cumbersome and expensive. Here we see a new technique that uses a special ink made of luminescent nanofibres that respond to chemicals in traces amounts of sweat left in the fingerprint. The tiny fibres create a glowing image that scientists capture as a high resolution 'photocopy' with portable equipment – revealing tiny details like sweat pores from prints on a variety of surfaces (top: tinfoil, quartz, iron. Bottom: glass, plastic, paper). Similar techniques could also be used to scan over the skin’s surface looking for changes associated with cancer or other dermatological conditions.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

Website

• Image from work by Tian Tian, Huixuan Han & Xinyi Lin, and colleagues
• School of Chemistry and Materials, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou; GBRCE for Functional Molecular Engineering, Instrumental Analysis & Research Center, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, P. R. China
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution – NonCommercial – NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
• Published in Nature Communications, November 2025