Fingerprint expert on crime show

A fingerprint left by sweat on metal can be detected even if it has been wiped

The scientist behind a breakthrough in fingerprinting techniques is to appear on US television's version of BBC's Crimewatch - America's Most Wanted.

Dr John Bond, scientific manager at Northamptonshire Police, and his colleagues at Leicester University developed the new technique.

Fingerprints can be "visualised" even after they have been removed.

Dr Bond found that sweat eats into a metal surface and leaves a trace from which fingerprints can be recovered.

Dr Bond, also Honorary Research Fellow at the university, helps police across the world investigate cold cases.

This Sunday a US TV crew will film the team.

Makers of the show plan to place a fingerprint of its celebrity presenter John Walsh on a brass disk then wash off the residue.

They are bringing the disk to the UK so the forensic researchers can enhance the print in front of the cameras.

John Walsh will also be travelling over personally to see the technique in operation.

Dr Bond said: "The interest being shown by America's Most Wanted programme and its presenter, John Walsh, is a reflection of how this technology will affect the recovery of forensic evidence from shell casings in the future."