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

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“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 Barrier
• Immunological First Responder
• Homeostasis 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 mentioned in the audio narration are incorrect; use those below)

The Pee Episode | Teaching Urinary & Renal Concepts | TAPP 125

The Poop Episode | Using Fecal Changes to Monitor Health | TAPP 121

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