Mucus may sound gross, but it keeps you healthy! Goblet cells are cup-shaped cells that make the sticky mucus lining your airways.
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Goblet cells live in the lining of your airways, like your nose and windpipe. They also live in your gut.
They look like a goblet, a fancy cup with a stem. The narrow bottom holds the nucleus. The wide top is stuffed with little drops of mucus. Their neighbors are cells with tiny hairs called cilia.
Boogers are mostly dried mucus with the dust and dirt it caught. Goblet cells helped make them!
Goblet cells pour out mucus, a sticky goo. It coats your airways like flypaper. Dust, pollen, and germs get stuck in it before they can reach your lungs.
Then the hairy cilia sweep the mucus up and out, like a moving carpet. You swallow it or blow it out of your nose without even noticing.
Scroll up to the 3D model and press Release mucus to watch the goblet cell pour out its goo.