Scrape those ears clean!

The Japanese are far ahead of us in earwax research and development. Last year, they isolated the gene that makes Asian earwax dry, compared with European or African earwax.

How far behind will the U.S. fall before we have to spend billions of dollars in an Apollo-style crash research program to close the earwax gap? I mean, we were the home of the Human Genome Project! It's another example of Japan taking an American achievement and turning it against us! Blah! Blah! Rant! Rant!

Sorry I forgot to say that the earpicks are like spoons and it spoons out your earwax.

OK yes some Japanese have more earwax than others, as well as Americans, and other races. Japanese like to keep with their traditional and new technology ways in different aspects of life. The way they clean their ears is traditional, and it is romantic for a man to clean out a woman's ear with an earpick.

And FYI - Asian people tend to have harder, drier earwax so regular Qtips don't work - which is why they use little scoops. I know it's gross, but when I learned that (I'm Asian but adopted) so many questions I had about earwax were answered.

What are some of the reasons for earwax? Does it serve the same purpose as mucus in the nose (as a dust and germ filter)?
Furthermore, what's the point of belly-button lint?