Our appendix is often considered a useless organ, but is there any chance it might have a hidden function?

Question

Our appendix is often considered a useless organ, but is there any chance it might have a hidden function?

In: Biology

Answer 1

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.