The appendix is a small organ situated between the small and large intestines. For a long time, scientists didn't know its function and deemed it useless. In fact, it was seen as potentially dangerous ...

DURHAM, N.C. – Long denigrated as vestigial or useless, the appendix now appears to have a reason to be – as a “safe house” for the beneficial bacteria living in the human gut. Drawing upon a series ...

It was the first day of spring break in 1992 in Phoenix, and 12-year-old Heather Smith was excited for her family's upcoming ski trip. But before Smith and her family had even packed their snow pants, ...

For years, the appendix carried a reputation as the body’s most pointless organ. Doctors often removed it without hesitation, and textbooks labeled it a vestigial structure—something our ancestors ...

DURHAM, N.C. – The lowly appendix, long-regarded as a useless evolutionary artifact, won newfound respect two years ago when researchers at Duke University Medical Center proposed that it actually ...

The appendix serves as an inductor and effector of the mucosal immune system. [1] Shortly after birth, the appendix becomes a reservoir for enteric flora that colonize the lumen of the cecum. It is ...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Contrary to conventional wisdom, the appendix may not be useless after all. New research suggests that the structure helps beneficial bacteria survive and repopulate the ...

The appendix is a very small finger-like tissue attached to the beginning of the large intestine, in the lower right side of the abdomen. It is popularly known as a vestigial organ, as in one which ...