Our appendix is often considered a useless organ, but is there any chance it might have a hidden function?
In: Biology
It does have a purpose. The idea that it is useless or has no function has been disproved.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appendix_(anatomy)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appendix_(anatomy))
Basically it has a role in the immune system and maintaining healthy gut bacteria.
Some theorize it is a useful store of helpful gut flora and fauna to aid in digestion and mineral absorption.
So it could do that. However it can also get infected with bad things and need to be removed.
Is it needed? Probably not. At one time? Sure. Now? It’s been repurposed perhaps as a probiotic store.
the countless people who live long successful lives after its removal leads us to believe the appendix is “useless”. however the appendix does have a function in the body…..just one thats not crucial for a long and healthy life
I don’t recall where but I read that it may function as a repository for your intestinal bacteria so that if you have some disease where you experience severe diarrhea and get cleared out there’s colonies that can replenish your gut biome.
The appendix is no longer believed to be useless.
It is a useful organ that can serve as a storage room for healthy (good) bacteria. It’s also believed to be a place that can help your gut produce important immune cells.
Having an appendix can help prevent infectious diseases (of the gut).
However, it’s not *necessary*. Most of the time our gut microbiome and our immune response to infections is good enough even without the appendix, so losing it is not a big deal.
The appendix is not considered to be useless, it’s considered to be vestigial. That means whatever if anything it currently does in humans is an adaptation and not what the appendix originally did in our ancestors. What we do know is that any function the appendix plays today is so minor that it makes no difference to your life to not have one and that any benefit it may bring is outweighed by the approximately 1 in 8 overall chance it has of becoming infected in a way which is almost always fatal without modern medicine.
My ELI5 understanding of the current idea is that the appendix is a backup harddrive for your gut’s microflora biome. So, something happens to your stomach, and your appendix can repopulate it with all the good bacteria you need. One piece of evidence for this is the fact that after you get your appendix removed, you are 50% more likely to develop IBS than a person with an appendix.
The appendix is part of our lymph system.
I graduated from an IB high school (I took four classes, didn’t do the full program) and was taught the appendix was a vestigial organ. I graduated in 2006. That’s wild that our understanding of it has changed so quickly.
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