10 Reasons Why Mucus Is Our Friend | TAPP 154

Kevin Patton tackles one of A&P’s slimiest subjects: mucus. In this playful but powerful episode, he reveals ten (or eleven) reasons mucus deserves more attention in our teaching. From immunity to fertility, mucus does it all. 00:00 | Introduction 00:45 | Mucus & Mucous 04:27 | Virtual HAPS Conference * 05:41 | Mucus: Body-Wide Protector 10:13 | Gross Episodes * 11:15 | Mucus in Motion 15:46 | Kerry Hull Honored * 16:28 | Mucus & the Human Story 20:42 | Running Concept Lists 21:11 | Mucus is Vital 26:05 | Staying Connected * Breaks ★ If you cannot see or activate the audio player, go to: theAPprofessor.org/podcast-episode-154.html ❓ Please take the anonymous survey: theAPprofessor.org/survey ☝️ Questions & Feedback: 1-833-LION-DEN (1-833-546-6336) ✔️ Follow The A&P Professor on Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, Substack, or Instagram! @theAPprofessor 📰 Get the once-or-twice-weekly TAPP Science & Education Updates theAPprofessor.org/updates “If life hands you a painful irritant, cover it in an iridescent mucus‑like substance until it becomes a pearl.” (Sarah Rosenshine) Mucus & Mucous 3.5 minutes What’s the difference between mucus and mucous? One is a noun, the other an adjective—but that subtle difference trips up a lot of students. This short segment makes a strong case for calling out that distinction early and often in your A&P course. Virtual HAPS Conference 1.0 minute Need new ideas for your A&P course? This brief segment promotes the upcoming virtual HAPS conference and Kevin’s own flipped-session presentation—packed with audio strategies for teaching. Mucus: Body-Wide Protector 4.5 minutes Reasons: Mechanical BarrierImmunological First ResponderHomeostasis Helper Mucus forms a body-wide protective network—physically trapping invaders, launching immune responses with secretory IgA and enzymes, and maintaining pH and hydration across exposed epithelial surfaces. Gross Episodes 1.0 minute This short segment encourages instructors to lean into the gross-out moments. Why? Because they’re often where the best learning happens. And yes, that includes mucus, poop, and pee. Mucus in Motion 4.5 minutes Reasons: 4. Lubrication 5. Trap-and-Transport System 6. Environmental Sentinel This segment gets things moving—literally. Mucus lubricates tissues, rides the mucociliary escalator to clear debris from the lungs, and even signals health status through color and consistency changes. Kerry Hull Honored 0.5 minutes Kevin pauses to celebrate A&P educator Kerry Hull, who received the HAPS President’s Medal. It’s a quick but heartfelt recognition of excellence and contribution to our teaching community. Mucus & The Human Story 4.0 minutes Reasons: 7. Microbiome Mediator 8. Fertility Facilitator 9. Digestive Ally 10. Indicator of Health In this segment, mucus supports friendly microbes, gets involved in reproduction, protects the gut from self-digestion, and signals health changes. It’s a slimy but vital player in our human physiology narrative. Running Concept Lists 0.5 minutes Want to reinforce deeper learning? Use mucus in a running concept list. Kevin explains how this recurring theme links systems and encourages students to build long-lasting conceptual connections. Mucus is Vital 4.5 minutes Reasons: 11. Mucus is Vital to Understanding the Human Body Kevin wraps it all up by calling mucus what it is: vital. It’s not just a side note in A&P—it’s a unifying, system-spanning feature worth revisiting throughout the course. Links 1. What Is Mucus, Anyway? (popular explainer article in Popular Science) AandP.info/154-1 2. Hagfish Slime Expands Faster Than Almost Anything Known (research-based article in Popular Science) AandP.info/154-2 3. Mucus Has Evolved at Least 15 Times in Mammals (article in New Scientist discussing evolutionary biology) AandP.info/154-3b 4. Personal Lubricant Made from Cow Mucus May Protect Against HIV (biomedical research article summary in New Scientist) AandP.info/154-4 5. Mucus, Slime, and Other Sticky Substances (open-access review in Journal of Functional Biomaterials) AandP.info/154-5 6. That’s Disgusting: Unraveling the Mysteries of Repulsion by Rachel Herz (book exploring the science of disgust, includes discussion of mucus) geni.us/154-6 7. Slime: How Algae Created Us, Plague Us, and Just Might Save Us by Ruth Kassinger (book blending science and storytelling about slimy lifeforms, including mucosal adaptations) geni.us/154-7 8. Future Fibers May Be Spun From Slime (short video + article in Science Friday) AandP.info/154-8 9. Seeking medical insights in the physics of mucus (article in Science Daily) AandP.info/154-9 10. Preparation and applications of artificial mucins in biomedicine (scientific review in Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science) AandP.info/154-10 ★ HAPS Virtual Conference page AandP.info/5455a4 TAPP episodes related to this episode's topics (NOTE: the episode numbers ...