Paper long abstract:

Of the bodily substances in which STS scholars, anthropologists, sociologists, and medical historians have been interested, saliva has arguably been overlooked. Yet, in the past twenty years, saliva - or more precisely the buccal cells found in saliva - has become a key element in the development of consumer genetic tests. Historically, expectoration has been associated with the spread of disease and social indecency, but when California-based consumer genomics start-up 23andMe began hosting spit parties in 2007, the act of spitting was transformed into an act of self-empowerment through which the individual gained new health information and saliva turned into a new biological source for measuring health and illness. In this paper, we explore how saliva is valued and circulated by taking a closer look at 23andMe's spit parties held at The World Economic Forum in Switzerland and elsewhere, and people demonstrating the use of 23andMe's 'Personal Genome Service' on YouTube. At the same time as spitting is made fashionable and saliva celebrated as the substance through which new self-knowledge will be gained, the actual moment of spitting is often hidden from view. We also examine how saliva is biochemically engineered into a valuable source of DNA, focusing on the company DNA Genotek who sells the saliva collection kits and who aims to establish saliva as the standard source of DNA from an individual. Alongside interest shown in other kinds of 'tissue economies', a greater focus on saliva and its place in the making and remaking of biovalue (Waldby 2000) is warranted.