Just as each human being is unique; his grooved fingertips are also unique. Even identical twins do not have the same patterns of grooves on their fingertips. Minor cuts and some skin diseases may cause temporary changes in the patterns, but on healing, the same pattern appears. Since 1901, police have used this knowledge to compare the fingerprints found at a crime site with those of the suspects. In early days, this comparison was done manually and used to be very cumbersome and time-consuming. Today, fingerprints are matched by the computer in a fraction of the time used earlier.
