New Organ in our bodies

Scientists identify a new Organ in our bodies

It’s called the mesentery, and it’s a fold of tissues that attach the intestines to the wall of your abdomen. One of the earliest known depictions of this mysterious piece of our innards was done by Leonardo da Vinci, so while its existence has long been known, new documentation, just published in the medical journal Lancet: Gastroenterology and Hepatology, has re-classified it from “fold of tissues” to “organ.” Besides connecting things together inside your body, the mesentery is also responsible for transporting blood and lymphatic fluid between the intestine and the rest of the body.

But how does an organ formally get to be called an organ anyway? What’s the process like? Lancet is a highly respected medical journal, and the findings of this paper — titled “The mesentery: structure, function, and role in disease” — are certainly trustworthy. But it’s not every day that we get to declare new body parts organs.

Dr. Coffey notes that, in relative terms at least, our understanding of the mesentery is just beginning. Though the human body has been studied in depth for centuries, every year brings new understandings about how it is constructed and how it operates. He’s also not even sure of the last time we “discovered” a new organ: “I have been focussed on the mesentery and its science,” he said. The mesentery, long acknowledged as existing, has now been through a peer revision process and is on the path to being given its full due, not as several structures but as one organ. “There will always be new ways of looking at things, and new questions to answer as a result,” Coffey said.

Mesentery: In general, a fold of tissue that attaches organs to the body wall. The word mesentery usually refers to the small bowel mesentery, which anchors the small intestines to the back of the abdominal wall. Blood vessels, nerves, and lymphatics branch through the mesentery to supply the intestine. Other mesenteries exist to support the sigmoid colon, appendix, transverse colon, and portions of the ascending and descending colon.

Ultimately, the research is likely to further our understanding of abdominal and digestive diseases. But for now, just remember: Your body has 79 organs, not 78.