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 has long been dismissed as an organ that has outlived its usefulness in human evolution. But new research suggests it may play an active — and detrimental — role in the development of ...

Biologists say the appendix isn’t useless after all. Evolution kept reinventing it, and it may help support gut immunity and ...

The human appendix, a narrow pouch that projects off the cecum in the digestive system, has a notorious reputation for its tendency to become inflamed (appendicitis), often resulting in surgical ...

DURHAM, N.C. – Long denigrated as vestigial or useless, the appendix now appears to have a reason to be – as a “safe house” for the beneficial bacteria living in the human gut. Drawing upon a series ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Most people get acquainted with their appendix when it's inflamed and about to rupture. Sebastian Kaulitzki/Science Photo Library ...