The News:
Appendix not as useless as once thought
DURHAM, N.C., Oct. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. medical researchers theorize the so-called vestigial -- or useless -- appendix may have a purpose after all: a "safe house" for beneficial bacteria.
William Parker and Dr. R. Randal Bollinger, both of Duke University in Durham, N.C., said they believe the appendix is where the beneficial bacteria in the human gut are stored when a bout of diarrhea completely evacuates the intestines.
Parker explained that it has already been hypothesized that the rates of allergy and autoimmune disease may go up in the hygienic conditions of industrialized life because the immune system -- unchallenged day-to-day -- may overreact in the face of a threat.
The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the Journal of Theoretical Biology.
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