Effects of latent fingerprint development reagents on subsequent forensic DNA typing: a review

Successful development of latent fingerprints can be helpful in solving the case but in case where fingerprints are smudged, distorted or overlapped, the question arises whether it is still possible to identify the person apart from dermatoglyphic features. Sweat residue present in the latent prints is supposed to have quite good quantity of cellular material which if analyzed properly can be used to generate forensic DNA profile of the individual and may answer the queries related to the effect of reagents used to develop the prints, as they may have a significant effect on the process of examination of this evidentiary material. In the present work an effort has been made to summarize the published review of literature on this aspect of personal identification.