Salivary diagnostics, has been something that OCF has been the funder of research in going back to 2003. David Wong, a personal friend and researcher at Harvard and then UCLA, who is a proteomics and genomic specialist, has been in the forefront of this idea, has had huge $ support for NIH and NIDCR. In the news section of the OCF site you can do a search for Wong or salivary diagnostics, and over the last 7 years see all the (many) stories that have been done about this promising new idea and emerging science.

The killer thing about this is that while oral cancer was the proof of concept disease in the idea, David has now found that he can find the predecessor RNA and protein markers for things that you would not think would be in saliva. Breast cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and pancreatic cancer to name a few. This is definitely the future. Most people do not even realize that we all have a individual proteome just has we have our own unique genome. Mapping those markers is now the task since the idea has principle proven.

But you just have to think about where saliva comes from to get the connection. Saliva starts its life as blood serum ( which is rich with all these markers). Problem is you can't find these small things like proteins in blood because there is too much other detritus in it, (cells etc). But once filtered through the parotid glands it is just the serum, and there enzymes are added to it, and then presto chango it is shot into your mouth as the stuff of play ground jokes and drool.... saliva.