Some of Leonardo Da Vinci’s anatomical drawings adorn my wall giving me the opportunity to marvel at how far ahead of his time this legendary thinker was when it came to understanding the human body. Truly remarkable stuff. Flash forward 500 years though and we’ve gotten to the point where we know almost everything there is to know about the body at least when it comes to identifying all of its parts. Or so we thought. For we may have recently discovered a new organ for the first time in hundreds of years. Inside our head of all places.
Popular Mechanics explains:
“Scientists have found a previously undiscovered organ deep inside the human head, where the nasal passages meet the back of the throat. Yes, the news is an extraordinary-sounding surprise, but the researchers say the discovery is likely a fourth pair of salivary glands—not a second brain or transistor radio. If the findings are confirmed, this will be the first discovery of a new human organ in around 300 years.
Keen-eyed viewers may recognize that specific location as the major place where COVID-19 swabs are taken, but the new study from the Netherlands came from a different angle, so to speak. While studying patient scans, the scientists identified the almost-hidden fourth salivary glands as the cause of a rough side effect from radiology treatment of cancers.”
I guess this means that it’s back to the old drawing board then so that we make sure that we didn’t miss anything else!
Leave a comment