Airway lining fights infection by physically removing infected cells, experiments show

The epithelium, a layer of cells that forms a protective barrier between the body and the outside world, was the first organized tissue to evolve. Epithelial cells lining our airways are mainly seen as a structural barrier, but cell biologist Jody Rosenblatt, who runs a lab at the Crick and King's College London, believes their evolutionary history suggests they play a much more active role in infections.

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