Nanotechnology and Its Applications in Forensic and Criminal Cases

When Dr. Richard Feynman first gave the good news in 1959 that nanotechnology was on its way to change or perhaps transform the world of technology, many people might have considered his concepts too futuristic to be realized. Criminals, on the other hand, would not have known how effective nanotechnological tools would become in solving crimes in a few decades. Among some of the medical applications of the technology are drug production, diagnostics, and production of medical as well as forensic tools and devices. Forensic science can be described as the sum of scientific tests or techniques used in the investigation of crimes. This chapter is, therefore, aimed at introducing and discussing nanotechnology as applied in forensic science along with instrumentation used in performing nano-analysis. The future prospects of the technology as employed in forensic science and toxicity of nanomaterials are also dealt with in this chapter.