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The internal portion of your nose is lined with something called a mucous membrane. This membrane is a thin layer of cells that produces mucus, a kind of slime. Mucus is mostly water and mucin, which is a kind of sugar.

In the nose, mucus has two roles. One is to moisten, lubricate, and protect the inside of the nasal passage. The other is to work as a kind of filter in combination with tiny hair-like projections called cilia. Cilia moistened by the mucus trap dust, bacteria, and other small particles breathed in with air along with head cells that come from the lining of he nose itself. This filter is very important to preventing all that junk from reaching the lungs.

If some bacteria make it past the defenses of the mucous membrane and you get a sinus infection snot also carries out the products of those bacteria and the cells killed off by them. This is why snot turns yellow.

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