de Costa, Alan (2025) The Exocrine Appendix. Darwin’s vestige. ANZ Journal of Surgery, 95 (3). pp. 283-285.

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Abstract

[Extract] Small organs in less accessible places are at risk of being under appreciated. In the early 1950's the father of transplantation immunology and Nobel laureate Sir Peter Medawar, described the Thymus as ‘a vestigial organ in the neck of no biological significance’.1 This was proved wrong quite quickly, but Darwin's assessment of the appendix continues to resonate.

Research Statement

Research Background	the debate around the function of the human appendix continues. This "perspective' describes the function of the appendix by analogy, to that of an exocrine gland.
Research Contribution	Alan de Costa- Single author, responsible for the idea, research and writing
Research Significance	This adds to the literature describing the function of the human appendix, and helps to explain why its removal seems to be without major consequence in western societies
Item ID:	85337
Item Type:	Article (Scholarly Work)
ISSN:	1445-2197
Copyright Information:	© 2025 The Author(s). ANZ Journal of Surgery published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Date Deposited:	05 May 2025 22:52
FoR Codes:	31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3104 Evolutionary biology > 310499 Evolutionary biology not elsewhere classified @ 50% 32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3202 Clinical sciences > 320226 Surgery @ 50%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2004 Public health (excl. specific population health) > 200499 Public health (excl. specific population health) not elsewhere classified @ 50% 20 HEALTH > 2001 Clinical health > 200104 Prevention of human diseases and conditions @ 50%
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