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The Appendix

Psychologist Kimberley Wilson and Dr Xand van Tulleken take a journey around the human body. Today, they discover the truth about an organ long dismissed as useless: the appendix.

Psychologist Kimberley Wilson and Dr Xand van Tulleken take a journey around the human body, to find out what it can tell us about our innate capacity for change.

In this episode, Kimberley and Xand zoom in on the appendix, long written off as a useless body part. But new research reveals that this worm-shaped part of our digestive system can actually tell us a lot about human evolution, and the relationship between brain and body.

Xand and Kimberley find out the surprising truth about what the appendix actually does, hear how it might be implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, and peep behind the curtains of a nightmare appendectomy.

Producer: Dan Hardoon
Executive Producer: Kate Holland
A Whistledown Production for 大象传媒 Radio 4

Available now

31 minutes

Last on

Wed 14 Jul 2021 21:00

Broadcasts

  • Tue 13 Jul 2021 15:30
  • Wed 14 Jul 2021 21:00

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