in 2007, Associate Professor William Parker of Duke University School of Medicine discovered that the appendix was used as a 'reservoir of gut microbiota.' Bacteria such as lactic acid bacteria and ...

Traditionally the appendix is the blockbuster of useless body parts – a leader in purposelessness ahead of wisdom teeth and the tailbone. However, a new study suggests the appendix isn’t vestigial at ...

For decades, the appendix has been dismissed as a useless organ — a leftover from human evolution with no real function.

Most of us are familiar with the appendix, that worm-shaped tube at the beginning of the large intestine, even if we can’t remember which side of the abdomen it resides. (Hint: It’s not the left side.

The appendix has long had a reputation as a redundant organ with no real function. Doctors often remove it even in mild cases of appendicitis to prevent future infection and rupture, which may not ...

The human appendix, a narrow pouch that projects off the cecum in the digestive system, has a notorious reputation for its tendency to become inflamed (appendicitis), often resulting in surgical ...

The appendix is a finger-like projection described as a blind-ended tube, usually several inches long, that is attached to the large intestine at its beginning known as the cecum. This is the area ...

Nobody's really sure why we humans have an appendix, and some biology textbooks still refer to the pinkie-size organ, located near the juncture of the large and small intestine, as a "vestigial organ.