Forensic Friday VCU edition concludes with this share of another Forensic Fact garnered during 
Sisters in Crime Central Virginia‘s March 22nd visit with Dr. Marilyn Miller of the university’s Department of Forensic Science.
Amido black dye is a sensitive protein stain that is suitable for collecting latent prints on blood stained surfaces. Whereas another agent may rinse away (on tile) or destroy (on paper) the bloody finger print, Amido black dye bonds to the proteins left behind by a finger and then affixes it to its surface.
A quick, strong contrasting process, the stain will color the protein a blue-black color. And as you can see, we found protein left behind by a finger writing ‘hi’ on a piece of paper. Though we developed our proteins in solution baths, Amido black dye can also be put in a spray bottle for use at crime scenes.