Four Readings on the Appendix
Appendix not useless after all: scientists
Last Updated: Monday, October 8, 2007 | 2:07 PM ET
CBC News
1)After decades under a label that marked it as
superfluous, the appendix may finally be able to
justify its existence. Doctors at Duke University
Medical School found the appendix protects
beneficial bacteria living in the human gut.
5)The pair found that a biofilm, a thin layer of
microbes, mucous and immune system
molecules lining the intestines, protects the
bacteria in the appendix.
6)The appendix "acts as a good safe house for
2)The study, published last week in the online
Journal of Theoretical Biology, found the
appendix works to repopulate bacteria that help
digest food after a disease such as cholera or
dysentery wipes it out.
bacteria," said Parker. The location of the
appendix just below the normal one-way flow of
food and germs in the large intestine in a sort of
gut cul-de-sac helps support the theory, he said.
7)The organ outgrowth acts like a bacteria factory,
3)"While there is no smoking gun, the abundance
of circumstantial evidence makes a strong case
for the role of the appendix as a place where the
good bacteria can live safe and undisturbed until
they are needed," said Duke surgery professor
William Parker, in a press release.
cultivating the good germs, Parker said.
8)"Once the bowel contents have left the body, the
good bacteria hidden away in the appendix can
emerge and repopulate the lining of the intestine
before more harmful bacteria can take up
residence," Parker said.
4)Parker conducted the analysis in collaboration
with Duke surgery professor R. Randal
Bollinger.
9)He said the appendix is not really needed in a
modern society because people are able to pick
up the needed germs from other people, so there
are few negative effects if it is removed.
With files from the Associated Press
What does the appendix do? finally an answer!
Miscellaneous News
Published: Monday, 8-Oct-2007
1)Researchers at Duke University Medical
Center say that the function of the frequently
discarded appendix, an organ often credited
with little importance and often dismissed as
having no significant function, does it seems
have a role to play after all.
intestines as in diseases such as cholera or
dysentery.
5)According to the researchers, the appendix's
job is to "reboot" the digestive system when
that happens with the bacteria safely harbored
in the appendix.
2)Researchers in the United States say the
appendix produces and protects good germs for
the gut by "rebooting" the digestive system.
3)The team of immunologists at Duke University
Medical Center say the human digestive
system contains massive amounts of bacteria
most of which are good and help the digestion
of food.
4)However the researchers say sometimes the
6)Many doctors believe the appendix is a
vestigial organ with no function and is no more
than a blind ended tube connected to the
cecum, from which it develops
embryologically.
7)The cecum is a pouch-like structure of the
colon and the appendix is near the junction of
the small intestine and the large intestine and
has abundant infection-fighting lymphoid cells,
bacteria die off or are purged from the
1
which suggests it plays a role in the immune
system.
8)The most common diseases of the appendix (in
humans) are appendicitis and carcinoid tumors.
Appendix cancer accounts for about 1 in 200
of all gastrointestinal malignancies.
9)Appendicitis is a condition where the the
appendix becomes inflamed and in almost all
cases it is removed either by laparotomy or
laparoscopy; left untreated, the appendix will
rupture, leading to peritonitis, then shock, and,
if continued untreated, death.
scientists stress that even though the appendix
seems to have a function, people should still
have them removed when they are inflamed
because since leaving it untreated could be
fatal.
11)Dr. Bill Parker, a professor of surgery and one
of the scientists responsible for establishing its
status as a useful organ, says the function of
the appendix seems related to the massive
amount of bacteria that populates the human
digestive system and where it is located just
below the normal one-way flow of food and
germs in the large intestine, helps support that
theory.
10)The appendix is routinely removed without any
notable ill effects or side effects and the
The study appears in the online edition of the Journal of Theoretical Biology.
The Appendix Protects Us From Germs And Protects Good Bacteria
Editor's Choice
Main Category: GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology News
Article Date: 09 Oct 2007 - 0:00 PDT
12)The appendix most likely is there to protect us
from bad germs by creating and protecting
good germs, say scientists from Duke
University Medical Center, USA. Most doctors
and scientists have believed that the appendix
was a redundant organ - serving no purpose at
all.
13)You can read about this latest study in the
Journal of Theoretical Biology.
14)After assessing several experiments and
observations, the scientists believe that the
good bacteria in the appendix that help our
digestion can survive a bout of diarrhea that
cleans out our gut, and appear to repopulate the
gut.
however, we have known that it contains
immune system tissue.
17)Different microbes that help the digestive
system break down foods inhabit the gut. The
gut rewards these microbes by feeding them
and keeping them safe. The scientists believe
that the immune system cells located in the
appendix have the function of protecting the
good bacteria.
18)William Parker, Ph.D., and team have been
observing the interplay of these bacteria in the
intestines. They have documented the
existence in the bowel of a biofilm - it is a thin
and delicate layer of microbes, mucous and
immune system molecules living together on
the lining of the gut.
15)The authors explained "While there is no
smoking gun, the abundance of circumstantial
evidence makes a strong case for the role of the
appendix as a place where the good bacteria
can live safe and undisturbed until they are
needed."
16)The appendix is located near to where the large
and small intestines meet; it is a slender pouch
about two to four inches long. Its exact
function has been a topic of debate by doctors -
19)The authors explain "Our studies have
indicated that the immune system protects and
nourishes the colonies of microbes living in the
biofilm. By protecting these good microbes,
the harmful microbes have no place to locate.
We have also shown that biofilms are most
pronounced in the appendix and their
prevalence decreases moving away from it."
2
20)Parker said "Diseases causing severe diarrhea
are endemic in countries without modern
health and sanitation practices, which often
results in the entire contents of the bowels,
including the biofilms, being flushed from the
body." Because of the location of the appendix,
it would be fairly difficult for anything to enter
it as the bowels are emptied.
hypothesis speculates that 'hygienic' societies
have a higher incidence of autoimmune disease
and allergy because their immune systems
have not been challenged during everyday life
by the ever so many parasites and other disease
causing microbes found in normal
environments. These hygienic society immune
systems over-react when they are challenged.
21)Parker adds "Once the bowel contents have left
23)Parker explained "This over-reactive immune
the body, the good bacteria hidden away in the
appendix can emerge and repopulate the lining
of the intestine before more harmful bacteria
can take up residence. In industrialized
societies with modern medical care and
sanitation practices, the maintenance of a
reserve of beneficial bacteria may not be
necessary. This is consistent with the
observation that removing the appendix in
modern societies has no discernable negative
effects."
system may lead to the inflammation
associated with appendicitis and could lead to
the obstruction of the intestines that causes
acute appendicitis. Thus, our modern health
care and sanitation practices may account not
only for the lack of a need for an appendix in
our society, but also for much of the problems
caused by the appendix in our society."
22)Scientists had indicated many decades ago that
people in industrialized nations may have a
higher rate of appendicitis because of the
"hygiene hypothesis", Parker commented. This
24)As a direct examination of the function of the
appendix would have been extremely difficult,
Parker decided to carry out a deductive study.
Rabbits, opossums and wombats are the only
other animals, apart from humans, that are
known to have appendices - their appendices
are quite different from the human's.
"Biofilms in the large bowel suggest an apparent function of the human vermiform appendix"
Journal of Theoretical Biology
R. Randal Bollinger, Andrew S. Barbas, Errol L. Bush, Shu S. Lin and William Parker
Link to web page where a PDF can be downloaded (must be purchased)
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
Your appendix ... it’s there for a reason
Creation Archive > Volume 20 Issue 1 > Your appendix ... it’s there for a reason
First published: Creation 20(1):41–42 December 1997
by Ken Ham and Carl Wieland
1)If you put your trust in evolutionary based
publications like the 1997 Encyclopædia
Britannica, you would think of your appendix
this way:
2)The appendix does not serve any useful
purpose as a digestive organ in humans, and it
is believed to be gradually disappearing in the
human species over evolutionary time. 1
4)The appendix is not generally credited with
significant function; however, current evidence
tends to involve it in the immunologic
mechanism.2
5)And in a 1995 medical textbook, the authors
are emphatic about the function of the
appendix:
6)The mucosa and submucosa of the appendix
3)However, even in 1976 medical textbooks
were beginning to admit the appendix had
functions:
are dominated by lymphoid nodules, and its
primary function is as an organ of the
lymphatic system.3
3
7)Despite this, many public school texts still
continue indoctrinating people in the idea that
the appendix is great evidence that man
evolved. An evolutionist had the following
testimony put into the record of the historic
1925 Tennessee Scopes Trial:4
8)There are, according to Wiedersheim, no less
than 180 vestigal [sic] structures in the human
body, sufficient to make of a man a veritable
walking museum of antiquities. Among these
[is] the vermiform appendix . These and
numerous other structures of the same sort can
be reasonably interpreted as evidence that man
has descended from ancestors in which these
organs were functional. Man has never
completely lost these characters; he continues
to inherit them though he no longer has any use
for them.5
14)It has a created function, but we don’t know
what it is yet.
15)Evidence of function
16)Today, the appendix is recognized as a highly
specialized organ with a rich blood supply.
This is not what we would expect from a
degenerate, useless structure.
17)The appendix contains a high concentration of
lymphoid follicles. These are highly
specialized structures which are a part of the
immune system. The clue to the appendix’s
function is found in its strategic position right
where the small bowel meets the large bowel
or colon. The colon is loaded with bacteria
which are useful there, but which must be kept
away from other areas such as the small bowel
and the bloodstream.
9)Thus, at one time evolutionists postulated there
were 180 vestigial (functionless) structures
(including the appendix) in the human body.
Today this list has shrunk to virtually none.
Imagine asking a doctor in 1925 to remove all
these ‘functionless’ structures from your body!
10)Sadly, those brainwashed by the evolutionary
idea that the appendix (and other organs) had
no function included many Christians. This is
yet another example of Christians being
influenced by man’s theories outside the Bible.
As the Bible is a revelation from the One who
is infinite in knowledge and wisdom, then all
of our thinking in every area should start with
God’s Word.
18)Through the cells in these lymphoid follicles,
and the antibodies they make (see box below),
the appendix is ‘involved in the control of
which essential bacteria come to reside in the
caecum and colon in neonatal life’.6 Like the
very important thymus gland in our chest, it is
likely that the appendix plays its major role in
early childhood. It is also probably involved in
helping the body recognize early in life that
certain foodstuffs, bacterially derived
substances, and even some of the body’s own
gut enzymes, need to be tolerated and not seen
as ‘foreign’ substances needing attack.Why is
the appendix so susceptible to disease?
19)If the appendix is a specially designed organ
11)Thinking Biblically about the appendix
12)Let’s assume that modern science knew of no
function for the appendix. Would that show it
was a useless left-over from our past evolution
from the animals? Not at all. There would be at
least two other possibilities, when our thinking
is based upon the Bible:
with a function, why do so many people suffer
from appendicitis, which requires the appendix
to be urgently removed to prevent death?
20)Answer:
21)Death, disease, and degeneration from original
perfection are all a part of the curse on a onceperfect creation. They do not reflect on the
suitability of the original design.
13)It had a created function in people originally,
but as a result of the Curse (consequent upon
Adam’s sin) on all creation, humanity has
degenerated. Thus, our body has lost some
functions which it once had. Evolution requires
a gain in information—new structures, new
functions.
22)In addition, it is clear that appendicitis is only
common in countries where a very highly
refined modern diet is eaten. Where people eat
a high proportion of vegetables, fruit and
unrefined cereals, (in other words, have a high
fibre diet), appendicitis is actually very rare.
The original ‘Genesis diet’ for which we were
designed7 was obviously much more like that.
4
23)But if it has a function, why can it be removed
and ashes’ when he realized how much he
didn’t know.
without ill effects?
29)We were not there to see Creation. We do not
24)Our body has been brilliantly designed, with
plenty in reserve, and the ability for some
organs to take over the function of others. Thus
there are a number of organs which everybody
agrees have a definite function, but we can still
cope without them. Some examples:
know everything. In fact, we know almost
nothing compared to the infinite amount there
is to know. So how could humans, with such
limited knowledge, ever have dogmatically
stated ‘the appendix is functionless’? It is
impossible in principle to prove something has
no function—without infinite knowledge.
25)Your gall bladder has a definite function—it
stores bile from the liver, and squirts it into the
intestine as required to help with the digestion
of fat. However, it can be removed and the
body will cope—for instance, by secreting
more bile continuously.
26)You can cope with having a kidney out,
because there is still enough kidney tissue left
in the other one. (In the same way, a part of the
Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue, which
includes the appendix, can be removed, and the
remaining lymphoid tissue will usually be
enough to carry on the total function). You
won’t suffer from having your thymus out (if
you’re an adult), because this extremely
important gland, which ‘educates’ your
immune cells when you are very young, is then
no longer required. This is likely to be very
relevant to the appendix.
30)So-called ‘facts’ for evolution are continually
being discarded (though sometimes only
deleted from textbooks years later). Numerous
people today still believe many of the outdated
evolutionary ideas they were taught at school
or college, not realizing that even the
evolutionists no longer accept them. Making
antibodies
31)The appendix, in conjunction with other parts
of the body which also contain cells called Blymphocytes, manufactures several types of
antibodies:
32)IgA immunoglobulins, involved in surface or
mucosal immunity. These are vital in
maintaining the protective barrier between the
bowel and the bloodstream.
33)IgM and IgG immunoglobulins, which fight
27)Lessons of the appendix
28)1 Corinthians 8:2 says: ‘And if any man think
that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing
yet as he ought to know.’ Think about the
questions God asked of Job: Where wast thou
when I laid the foundations of the earth? …
Where is the way where light dwelleth? … By
what way is the light parted … ? Knowest thou
the ordinances of heaven?8 After many other
questions, we read that Job repented in ‘dust
invaders via the bloodstream.
34)The appendix is in fact part of the G.A.L.T.
(Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue) system.
The lymphoid follicles develop in the appendix
at around two weeks after birth, which is the
time when the large bowel begins to be
colonized with the necessary bacteria. It is
likely that its major function peaks in this
neonatal period.
References and notes
New Encyclopædia Britannica, 1:491, 1997. Return to text.
Henry L. Bockus, M.D., Gastroenterology, 2:1134–1148 (chapter ‘The Appendix’ by Gordon McHardy), W.B. Saunders
Company, Philadelphia, Pennslyvania, 1976. Return to text.
Frederic H. Martini, Ph.D., Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology, p. 916, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey,
1995. Return to text.
Sometimes known as the ‘Monkey Trial’. Incidentally, readers should not think that the play/film Inherit the Wind was
anything like true depiction of this trial—see Inherit the Wind—An historical analysis. Return to text.
The World’s Most Famous Court Trial, Tennessee Evolution Case (A word-for-word report), Bryan College, p. 268, 1990
(reprinted from the original 1925 edition). Return to text.
A more detailed survey of the evidence, with numerous references to other technical literature, showing that the appendix is
not a vestigial organ can be found in J.W. Glover, The Human Vermiform Appendix—a General Surgeon’s Reflections, CEN
Technical Journal, 3:31–38, 1988. Dr Glover is a surgeon in Melbourne, Australia. Return to text.
See P. Emerson, ‘Eating out in Eden’, Creation 18(2):10–13, March 1996. Return to text.
Job 38:4, 19, 24, 33; Job 42:6. Return to text.
5