The hidden beauty

Among the secrets of the human immune system, one of them always fascinated me. Some functions and aspects of the human body which might be considered as normal, rudimental or even trivial might hide some interesting, “secret” immune functions. The tears, for example, are the expression of sadness, emotion, or pain. However, they also contain a substance that provides us protection against some bacterial infections. Indeed, the lysozyme is an enzyme involved in the degradation of the peptidoglycan cell wall of some gram positive bacteria. Thus, beyond their well known social and communicative functions, tears also play an underestimated, “hidden”, and fascinating antimicrobial role #immunesystem#immunology#medicine#physiology#tears#lysozyme#nature#bacteria#innateimmunity#biology#humanbody#sciencefacts#lovescience#science (📸 Ewan Birney)