this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2024
71 points (98.6% liked)

Science

13141 readers
105 users here now

Subscribe to see new publications and popular science coverage of current research on your homepage


founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

It turns out that the appendix appears to have two related functions. The first function is supporting the immune system. The appendix has a high concentration of immune tissue, so it's acting to help the immune system fight any bad things in the gut.

The second function that it serves is what we refer to as the safe house. So this was a hypothesis that was put forward by a team from Duke University in 2007. And they argued that the appendix may serve as a safe reservoir for the beneficial gut bacteria that we have.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] scytale@lemm.ee 6 points 9 months ago

Mine was removed 30 something years ago in 3rd grade. I did have some auto-immune stuff happen to me like hyperthyroidism and eczema, but they all manifested in my 30s.