Why did Professor Julian Gardner synthesize snot? The answer appears in Simon Usborne’s unusual (for newspapers) article, in the January 2, 2007 issue of the Independent, looking at some supposedly (and perhaps genuinely) “bizarre” research, and exploring why the researchers decided to do what they did:
Mucus, it turns out, separates the myriad chemical compounds that make up the smell of, say, frying onions. These compounds travel through the mucus at different speeds, hitting our scent receptors at different times. By dissecting and separating smells in this way, mucus allows our brains to identify scents more quickly and accurately. It was with this in mind that, in April, Professor Julian Gardner of the University of Warwick started to improve his electronic noses, which have been used (without mucus) for years, in everything from the production of artificial fragrances to quality control in crisp factories.
“We built a polymer that replicates the function of snot,” says Gardner. “It’s not green but it has the same consistency as human snot and, applied to our sensors, means our artificial noses are at least five times better than those without snot.”