The appendix is a bug nursery

Researchers at Duke University think they have finally found out what the human appendix is for. It may act as a 'safe house' for beneficial gut bacteria, facilitating recolonisation of the intestines in the event of a catastrophic pathogen event wiping out the rest of the gut's microflora. (Biofilms in the large bowel suggest an apparent function of the human vermiform appendix. J Theor Biol. 200 ...

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