Research finds Human Appendix to Support Immune System

Research finds Human Appendix to Support Immune System

As per a study published in Comptes Rendus Palevol and conducted by the Researchers from Midwestern University, Human Appendix which is regarded as a vestigial organ can actually serve an important biological function. Researchers traced the appearance, disappearance, and reemergence of

the appendix in several mammal lineages over the past millions of years, to figure out how many times it was cut and bought back due to evolutionary pressures. The research conducted on appearance and disappearance of appendix on over 533 mammal species over the past 11,244 million years and found that it was for ‘good’ intestinal bacteria that help us keep certain infections away and keep the immune system strong. They found that the organ has evolved at least 41 times throughout mammalian evolution and has only been lost a maximum of 12 times suggesting that appendix did have some important role.

v. The study found that individuals without an appendix were four times more likely to have a recurrence of Clostridium difficile colitis, a bacterial infection that causes diarrhoea, fever, nausea, and abdominal pain.