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THE SLIME INSIDE US

​We carry around two square metres of mucus inside us! It lines the mucous membranes of our body, where it keeps things lubricated and healthy. There's lots of water in it (94%) and many molecules - among them glycoproteins that carry sialic acid. Why sialic acid? Because it helps to keep pathogens away, and it is an enzyme - a sialyltransferase - that puts it there.

etched linoprint by Emily Harvey