It is perhaps not coincidental that the two staphylococcal species that dispersed rapidly on mucin plates (S. aureus and S. epidermidis) are also abundant in the mucoid effluents of chronic otitis media patients (45), a condition associated with the hyperproduction of the lubricating and hydrating MUC5B mucin in the middle ear (46). The gene discussed is MUC5B; the disease is chronic otitis media.