Abstract

The interest of my work on mucins, particularly snail mucin, started as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow in Germany, where I watched slugs survive in a terribly cold environment. I was carrying out a research on modelling of some charge-transfer complexes. I had wanted to change my research into looking at some of the biochemical factors that could make slugs survive under such environmental conditions. Apart from the survival processes, slugs are “raw” flesh crawling on the bare earth and do not get destroyed by bacteria or other infective agents. I was, however, not allowed as I had a contract with the Foundation on what I should do at that period. When I returned, my interest on mucins multiplied and has been my focus of research for some time now.