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Your appendix might not be useless after all—and new research says it could be an evolutionary secret weapon

For years, the appendix carried a reputation as the body’s most pointless organ. Doctors often removed it without hesitation, ...
NPR

Your appendix is not, in fact, useless. This anatomy professor explains

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, ...
SFGate

Appendix may serve important function, new study finds

According to a new study by researchers at Midwestern University, the appendix might serve an important bodily function. According to the study, led by Heather F. Smith, an associate professor at ...
EurekAlert!

New Midwestern University research suggests appendix may have important function

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 ...
Phoenix New Times

Appendix Not a Useless Organ, as Formerly Thought — Serves Critical Function, Say Researchers From Arizona and Duke U

Creationists will have a field day with this one. Turns out that Charles Darwin was wrong about the appendix. Darwin believed the organ didn’t do anything useful, so it might have been vestigial — an ...
Live Science

The Appendix: Useful and in Fact Promising

The body's appendix has long been thought of as nothing more than a worthless evolutionary artifact, good for nothing save a potentially lethal case of inflammation. Now researchers suggest the ...
Wired

Pretty Useful: Appendix Evolved More Than 30 Times

The appendix may not be useless after all. The worm-shaped structure found near the junction of the small and large intestines evolved 32 times among mammals, according to a new study. The finding ...
Mental Floss

Immunology Study Suggests the Appendix Has a Use After All

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 ...
News Medical

What does the appendix do? finally an answer!

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center say that the function of the frequently discarded appendix, an organ often credited with little importance and often dismissed as having no significant ...