What is Nasal Mucus and How to Make Fake Snot [VIDEO]

Check out our new video explaining how nasal snot or mucus is made from proteins called mucin with a bunch of sugar chains branching off of it. Mucin can bind to and retain a great deal of water. With water, they interlink with each other creating mucus.

One can create fake mucus in the kitchen with water, gelatin powder, and light corn syrup.  Gelatin is also a protein just like mucin, but without any sugar chains. When you add water to gelatin powder the gelatin protein becomes cross-linked with each other. Adding corn syrup contributes sugar ultimately mimicking natural nasal mucus both molecularly as well as visually.

Patients often erroneously equate thick mucus with a sinus infection. But given the above information, you now know that this may or may not be true. Remember that mucus is just mucin with water. In order for a bona fide sinus infection to also be present, germs also need to be present along with mucus. Some signs that may suggest an infection include foul tasting drainage, bad odor, fever, and/or facial pain.

Nasal mucus that dries up becomes boogers.