I might have been right

Sometimes it is like I have too much free time to think.  Over the years in that free time my mind has presented a number of theories, most of which turn out to be pretty harebrained.  But, then that is outside the box, which is all the rage these days. To my mind there should be no box.  Free thought, like free fall, anti-gravity and loose.

Anyway one of the theories that crossed my mind was in thinking about how no one had been able to cure the common cold, perhaps there was a good reason for that.  Given all the substances that come flowing out of the body in those periods, I thought maybe the common cold was good for us.  Good as in cleansing our systems of contaminants.  Given that mucus is supposedly a catch-all for alien intrusions in the body and that mucus is mostly what is expelled, taking with it all the contaminants that had built up in it, it seemed a periodic cleansing could be good for overall health, despite how it made us feel for a few days.  One positive result was I learned to enjoy a good cold after that and not let one bother me too much.

Also, the realization gave me the basis for what turned into what I thought was a pretty good short story.  The story revolved around a scientist who finally discovered  a cure for the common cold, and in the process nearly killed off the whole human race.  That story disappeared somewhere into the boxes and boxes of story ideas half finished or discarded, but the thought persisted.

Then tonight, while perusing a facbook gallery that has more interesting science than my mind can embrace in one sitting, I came across the following.  It seems science has discovered that plain old mucus may be the basis for developing a whole new immune system.  Eureka! Once again science fiction turns to reality, even if my story never was published and one doesn't follow the other exactly, although maybe it is the bacteria collected by the bacteriopage gets too heavy and needs to be expelled and that mechanism is the common cold.

The facebook page is "All science, all the time."  It really is worth taking some time to go through the photo gallery.  I am afraid I have overburdened my friends with shares from it.

Anyway, here is the article and the diagram that went with it:

Mucus may be slimy and gross, but a San Diego State University research team, led by Biology Post-doctoral Fellow Jeremy Barr, has discovered that it is also home to a powerful immune system that could change the way doctors treat a number of diseases.

A new immune system

The researchers sampled mucus from animals and humans—ranging from a sea anemone to a mouse and a person—and found that bacteriophage adheres to the mucus layer on all of them.

They placed bacteriophage on top of a layer of mucus-producing tissue and observed that the bacteriophage formed bonds with sugars within the mucus, causing them to adhere to the surface. They then challenged these mucus cells with E. coli bacteria and found that the bacteriophage attacked and killed off the E. coli in the mucus, effectively forming an anti-microbial barrier on the host that protected it from infection and disease.

To confirm their discovery, the team also conducted parallel research challenging non-mucus producing cells with both bacteriophage and E. coli. The results—the samples with no mucus had three times more cell death.

"Taking previous research into consideration, we are able to propose the Bacteriophage Adherence to Mucus—or BAM—is a new model of immunity, which emphasizes the important role bacteriophage play in protecting the body from invading pathogens," Barr said.

"This discovery not only proposes a new immune system but also demonstrates the first symbiotic relationship between phage and animals," Barr said. "It will have a significant impact across numerous fields."

"The research could be applied to any mucosal surface," Barr said. "We envision BAM influencing the prevention and treatment of mucosal infections seen in the gut and lungs, having applications for phage therapy and even directly interacting with the human immune system."

Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-immune.html#jCp