Most people know only two things about the appendix: You don’t need it – and if it bursts, you need surgery fast. That basic story traces back at least to Charles Darwin, the English naturalist who ...

For more than a century, the human appendix has been written off as a biological relic, a shrunken leftover from plant-eating ancestors that serves no real purpose. That view is now outdated. A ...

MINNEAPOLIS — Stephen Colbert is away from late-night TV following emergency surgery last week — the comedian's appendix burst. That made us wonder: What does the appendix do for our body? And why are ...

The appendix was long thought to be useless. It’s removed in cases of appendicitis — inflammation that's especially common in children. But new research shows it may play a crucial role in supporting ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. You may have heard that astronauts have their appendix removed before leaving Earth. After all, people say you can live without ...

Many organs play important roles, but not all of them are required for survival. Some are removed because of injury, and ...

Many Americans grew up with the idea their appendix is an unnecessary organ, made obsolete by evolution. But in the last 20 years or so, scientists have come to believe the appendix serves a purpose, ...

Since the dawn of modern medicine the vermiform appendix has seemed to be a completely useless organ. This week, the University of Chicago’s Dr. Leon 0. Jacobson suggested that a use for the appendix ...