Appendix Not Vestigial Anymore
Today, if you were to look in a biology textbook or do a search on Wikipedia on the term 'vestigial organ' the first entry you would see is a picture of the human appendix. The appendix was considered by Charles Darwin as vestigial due to its apparent lack of use in every day life. The information Darwin did not have access to was how the every day cycle your body goes through can rapidly change if you drink the water in Mexico.
The appendix is store house of good bacteria. On a daily basis you have no immediate need for this bacteria and sometimes from lack of use your appendix can become inflamed (appendicitis). However, after a case of diarrhea the bacteria in your gut become sparse and the appendix kicks in to action to repopulate the missing bacteria.
Vestigial means that an object has lost all of its original function. So is the appendix vestigial?
No.
Even if our bodies contained vestigial structures that would be the opposite of evolution. In order to prove evolution happened you would need to see a non-existing organ appear and fulfill a useful function. If our bodies contain any organs that are vestigial, that would be proof we used to be better and now are getting worse.
"Maybe it's time to correct the textbooks," says William Parker, PhD, assistant professor of surgical sciences at Duke and the senior author of the study. I completely agree.
Adapted from materials provided by Duke University Medical Center
