Spitting in the Name of Science.

Spit has many uses. The most obvious are keeping the mouth moist for chewing and swallowing food, as well as for speaking, singing, and even whistling. Spit is also essential for good oral health.

Good manners says we should keep spit in our mouths at all times, though. (Ever see one of those “No Spitting on the Sidewalk” signs?) Maybe the only o.k. time to spit is while sitting in the dentist’s chair—and only when the dentist asks you to.

Now, though, it’s also o.k. to spit in the name of science.

A team of Agricultural Research Service (ARS), university, and other scientists is asking a healthy, 30-something-year-old man to donate his spit (saliva) at the University of Rochester in New York State. There, at the Center for Oral Biology, his spit is helping the scientists learn what, exactly, is in this natural secretion.

Now why would anyone want to do that?

Examining saliva’s many different proteins could help detect illegal drug use. An example would be making sure an athlete hasn't’t taken a performance-boosting substance, like anabolic steroids. Saliva studies could also help doctors check for something that signals the beginning of disease, like “dry mouth” or diabetes. They could then start treatments sooner.

Neil Price is on the ARS-university team asking the Rochester volunteer to spit so they can figure out what’s in it. “So far, we’ve found a lot of different [fats], steroids, sex hormones, and sugars,” reports Price, with ARS’s National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, Illinois. Using this information, he plans to measure "anabolic metabolism” (how our bodies use nutrients from food to create large molecules needed for our growth).

Price plans to build a map or chart showing the body’s metabolic activity under certain conditions—like dieting, exercise, or taking dietary products for improved health.

Price’s lab partners also want to measure health benefits linked to taking dietary products called prebiotics. They’re made from certain sugars in corn, soybean, and other crops. When taken, the prebiotics help feed helpful bacteria living inside our colon (part of the digestive system where water is absorbed from digested food).Scientists believe that keeping these bacteria “happy” will help keep your body healthy.

The prebiotics’ use could also make farmers happy by increasing their sales of crops for making the bacteria-
boosting sugars. All this from studying spit! Amazing! Just keep it off the sidewalk, please!

—By Jan Suszkiw, Agricultural Research Service, Information Staff

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