Saliva from a tick's bite can transmit pathogens that cause serious illnesses, such as Lyme disease, and significant agricultural losses. Current insecticides have drawbacks, so scientists have been seeking new ways to prevent ...
Biochemistry
Aug 26, 2019
6
2109
Despite breakthrough diabetes research over the past century, people with diabetes still need to rely on obtaining blood samples to monitor their sugar levels. Daily glucose monitoring by tracking blood sugar levels is essential ...
Analytical Chemistry
Oct 14, 2021
0
283
A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in Russia and the U.S. has found that Siberian brown bears have a chemical in their saliva that has been found able to kill Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. In their ...
The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has spread around the world at an unprecedented rate, evading containment countermeasures. Understanding the mechanisms by which SARS-CoV-2 successfully evades the body's defense systems ...
Biochemistry
Jul 19, 2022
0
34
This November, several states will vote whether to legalize marijuana use, joining more than 20 states that already allow some form of cannabis use. This has prompted a need for effective tools for police to determine on ...
Analytical Chemistry
Sep 9, 2016
34
268
In an advance toward solving a 50-year-old mystery, scientists are reporting new evidence on how the fluoride in drinking water, toothpastes, mouth rinses and other oral-care products prevents tooth decay. Their report appears ...
Biochemistry
May 1, 2013
2
3
(PhysOrg.com) -- Parasitoid larvae that feed within caterpillars that eat cabbage plants influence the plant via the caterpillar, making the cabbage plant an unattractive prospect for moths looking for a spot to lay their ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 16, 2011
0
0
Two million years of eating meat and cooked food may have helped humans shift further from other great apes on the evolutionary tree. The evidence is in our saliva, according to new research from the University at Buffalo.
Evolution
Oct 16, 2019
1
389
Using the properties of naturally occurring proteins offers huge potential for new medicines. Charlotte Franck in Professor Richard Payne's lab has for the first time made the anti-inflammatory evasin proteins found in tick ...
Biotechnology
May 26, 2020
0
980
UCLA research could lead to a simple saliva test capable of diagnosing—at an early stage—diabetes and cancer, and perhaps neurological disorders and autoimmune diseases.
Analytical Chemistry
Oct 29, 2014
0
0
Saliva (also referred to as spit , spittle or slobber) is the watery and usually frothy substance produced in the mouths of humans and most other animals. Saliva is produced in and secreted from the salivary glands. Human saliva is composed mostly of water, but also includes electrolytes, mucus, antibacterial compounds, and various enzymes. As part of the initial process of food digestion, the enzymes in the saliva break down some of the starch and fat in the food at the molecular level. Saliva also breaks down food caught in the teeth, protecting them from bacteria that cause decay. Furthermore, saliva lubricates and protects the teeth, the tongue, and the tender tissues inside the mouth. Saliva also plays an important role in tasting food by trapping thiols produced from odourless food compounds by anaerobic bacteria living in the mouth.
Various species have evolved special uses for saliva that go beyond predigestion. Some swifts use their gummy saliva to build their nests. Some Aerodramus swiftlet nests are made only from saliva and used to make bird's nest soup. Cobras, vipers, and certain other members of the venom clade hunt with venomous saliva injected by fangs. Some arthropods, such as spiders and caterpillars, create thread from salivary glands.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
