Now that is truly amazing.

From dyeing hairs to detecting crimes, a new role for henna

Full article can be found: Yahoo India News!

Sydney, Jan 12 (IANS) A compound which gives henna its characteristic property for dyeing hair a reddish brown colour and making tattoos may become the latest tool in the fight against crime, says a new study.

Curtin University of Technology researchers are developing new fingerprinting methods using lawsone, a naturally occurring substance found in henna.

Simon Lewis, Curtin’s associate professor of forensic chemistry, said the new methods being tested had the potential to complement current methods of fingerprint detection.

Lawsone’s properties made it a very useful tool for law enforcement, says Curtin’s doctoral scholar Renee Jelly.

‘We have discovered that it reacts with the amino acids in invisible fingerprints on paper, which turn a purple-brown colour when treated with lawsone. These coloured fingerprints are also luminescent under a forensic light source,’ says Jelly.

Jelly’s thesis involves investigating a number of alternative materials to use in hunting for fingerprints on paper.

‘Paper-based evidence, such as documents, wrapping material and containers, are frequently encountered in criminal investigations,’ she said.

‘The most widely used methods for detecting invisible fingerprints on these surfaces rely upon the detection of the amino acids present in natural skin secretions,’ says Jelly, according to a Curtin university release.

‘Lawsone is not the only alternative substance that I have discovered to detect fingerprints on paper, but it is one of the most promising that I am investigating,’ says Jelly.