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Saskatoon professor wants you to pick your nose for science

A man blows his nose.

A Saskatoon professor trying to promote science among students is starting to get snotty about the whole thing.

Scott Napper, a biochemistry professor at the University of Saskatchewan, is proposing a research experiment in which subjects would pick their noses and then eat it, according to the Canadian Press.

[ Related: Saskatchewan professor wants to test the health benefits of nose-picking ]

He says this type of experiment, that's funny and enlightening, is a great way to make people curious about science.

Funny for the guy who's not picking his snot.

Napper also seeks to find out if children's occasional habit of eating boogers might be helpful, in a sense, because it could teach their bodies to better fight off the germs they consume.

He told the Canadian Press he would choose one type of molecule to place in subject's noses and then divide them into two groups: nose pickers who eat it and those who don't.

Volunteering before the groups are assigned would require a certain special kind of bravery. Call it goo guts.

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An Austrian doctor was cited as saying that picking your nose and eating it is healthy in news stories that circulated widely several years ago. However, follow-ups have not yielded any medical studies supporting his claim.

Still, if Napper's hypothesis in favour of nose-picking finds some evidence, a disgusting habit could become a medical recommendation.