The mucus barrier protects foreign materials and bacteria from entering and/or infecting lungs. In healthy lungs, inhaled matter is typically trapped in airway mucus and subsequently swept away from the lungs via beating activities of cilia, or small, hairlike strands, to the stomach to be eventually degraded. Unfortunately, this essential protective mechanism also prevents many inhaled therapeutics, including gene-based medicine, from reaching their target. Now, … Continue reading Researchers successfully bypass the mucus barrier in lungs for the first time.