fingerprinting

The identification of a chemical, molecule or specific finding by comparing it to others of the same family of chemicals, molecules, or findings
Forensics The identification of a person based on the patterns of arches, loops and whorls on fingers and hands
Molecular biology The profiling of a molecule to detect highly characteristic features
Examples DNA, protein, peptide, and chemical fingerprinting

fingerprinting

1. a technique for detecting differences in the amino acid sequence of proteins. The proteins are cleaved into PEPTIDES, which are separated by ELECTROPHORESIS in one dimension and by CHROMATOGRAPHY in the second dimension. This generates a pattern of peptide spots (the ‘fingerprint’) that is characteristic for a particular protein.
2. (also called DNA fingerprinting or genetic fingerprinting) a technique for establishing identity and relatedness of specific ORGANISMS based on the DNA (or RNA) of an individual. For humans, the DNA fingerprint comprises a ladder of DNA fragments generated by specific RESTRICTION DIGESTION of certain hypervariable repeated DNA sequences within the GENOME. The number and arrangement of these sequences is characteristic of each person (identical twins being an exception). The DNA fingerprint generated (which resembles a barcode) is thus generally unique to an individual.
3. a technique used to distinguish between strains of an RNA VIRUS, by detecting small differences in the NUCLEOTIDE sequence of the RNA GENOME.