Scientists find new organ in the gut

Researchers have discovered a new organ in the human body – the mesentery.

According to research published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology‚ the mesentery used to be considered a fragmented and complex set of membranes that connected the small and large intestine to the abdominal wall.

The new research demonstrates‚ however‚ that rather than being a set of membranes‚ it is one continuous organ.

Professor of Surgery at the University of Limerick’s Graduate Entry Medical School‚ J Calvin Coffey‚ who discovered the organ‚ said the find opens the way for new research.

“This is relevant universally as it affects all of us. Up to now there was no such field as mesenteric science. Now we have established anatomy and the structure.

“The next step is the function. If you understand the function you can identify abnormal function‚ and then you have disease. Put them all together and you have the field of mesenteric science…the basis for a whole new area of science‚” Coffey said in a statement.

Coffey’s research has already led to an update to Gray’s Anatomy‚ so medical students will be learning about the Mesentry as an organ from this year.

- TMG Digital