Could your dentist do more than fix your teeth?
We all know that spit carries stuff like DNA, germs, and other goodies, but it turns out that spit might also have proteins in it that are markers for diseases like cancer and autoimmune disorders. I was reading Wired last week and saw the article headline. I thought, hmm, okay, let’s see. The science is pretty straightforward. For many diseases there are protein markers that reveal the presence of the disease even if there is no pathogen. Think of it this way. When you have a cold, the cold virus is everywhere in your body. Taking a sample of your spit would reveal the virus, but something like an autoimmune disease is different. There isn’t (often) a virus running rampant through your body to home in on, so scientists look for the protein markers that are caused by the disease or indicate its presence. The trick, then, is figuring out the markers.
For spit you not only have to find the marker, but it has to be present in spit and be the same one. Researchers have figured out one marker and more are in their sights.
So soon maybe your dentist might give you more than just a pain in the jaw.
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