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The slippery stuff of slime: should we loathe it so much?

13 November 2021

9:00 AM

13 November 2021

9:00 AM

Slime: A Natural History Susanne Wedlich

Granta, pp.336, 20

As humans, we are supposed to have an aversion to slime. It should repel us. Objects and organisms that might be harmful trigger feelings of disgust which keep us away. And, according to the biologist Susanne Wedlich, the common denominator of ‘wide-ranging microbial threats, covering sickness, sex, death and putrefaction’ is their sliminess.

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