From: IN%"unicorn@schloss.li" "Black Unicorn" 14-MAY-1996 13:05:37.99

On Mon, 13 May 1996, Paul S. Penrod wrote:

...

Pineapple juice and other weak acidic subtances ruin the ridges on the finger tips causing them to smear or not show at all. Unfortunately, this takes a period of time and constant handling of such items.

This is interesting. I suspect that you'd have to have major damage to the ridges however.

One idea I've had is dermabrasion of the fingertips. There could be some problems with this, however, in that dermabrasion works best on areas well-supplied with blood vessels and various other healing-promoting characteristics; thus, it is customarily used only on the face. It would be interesting to see if angiogenesis (blood vessel growing) and other growth factors could be used in order to have dermabrasion on other parts of the body without scarring (the normal consequence of using it in other areas); this would have cosmetic as well as identity-related applications. I haven't found any research on this subject on Medline. -Allen