Searching for signs of disease in spit

Testing for health conditions usually involves needles, X-rays and other invasive or uncomfortable measures. To make diagnostics less burdensome for patients, scientists are developing alternatives, looking for disease markers in urine — and even spit. Now a study demonstrates for the first time that individuals may have saliva ‘fingerprints.’ The finding suggests that identifying changes in these baseline fingerprints could someday be a reliable way to detect disease.