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 ...

Discover the surprising role of the appendix in immunity and gut health, alongside insights on appendicitis and treatment ...

Surgeons and immunologists at the Duke University Medical School believe they have unraveled the mystery behind the function of the human appendix. p. The organ that was once thought to be vestigial — ...

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

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 ...

WASHINGTON — Some scientists think they have figured out the real job of the troublesome and seemingly useless appendix: It produces and protects good germs for your gut. That's the theory from ...

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 ...

The role of the appendix in the human body has long been a mystery. Evidence that animal appendixes are larger and more active than humans lends to the mystique and leads scientists to wonder why ...

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.