If our appendix has no function anymore, will we eventually evolve out of having one?

Question

If so, would this prove the theory of evolution?

Answer 1

If it was lost via random mutation of some form, and there was some selective advantage to NOT having it, eventually the people without one would survive while the people with one died off.

This would be evolution in practice. But simply being benign isn't enough reason for it to evolve away. Evolution is random and then selective, not directed towards an end.

Answer 2

About 1 in every 100,000 people are ALREADY born without an appendix at all. They show no apparent disability from this; most aren't even aware of it.

So unless there is some dramatic secret appendix function that has yet to be discovered and which secretly impairs these non-appendix people, it is safe to say that there IS a pressure, since a non-zero amount of people are killed by their appendix every year.

I wouldn't expect appendixes to disappear overnight, however, since even though there seems to be a pressure, it doesn't seem very strong. Nor will it prove the part of evolution that is really in dispute - most creationists already concede the kind of micro-evolution that allows a hundred species of radically different dog from one wolf ancestor. The big disagreement lies in MACRO-evolution... the kind that produces whole new species.

Link below for evidence and further comments. Enjoy!

Answer 3

Maybe we will evolve out of having one.

Survival as a human does not depend on whether or not one has an appendix. There is no reason to expect that people will be born without an appendix; it's in human DNA that humans will have one.

If some humans were to be born without the gene(s) for an appendix, and were to breed with other humans without the gene(s) needed for an appendix, it's possible that later generations of those persons could breed and produce human beings without an appendix. Will that happen in numbers great enough to change the gene pool? Probably not, but it's theoretically possible.

If some event occurred to change many humans' DNA - say, a global chemical catastrophe - and then most humans were born without an appendix, the chances are higher that the gene(s) needed for an appendix would be bred out of humans. Would they survive? Yes, because humans don't need an appendix. Would any people who did not have their DNA affected, who still bred offspring with appendices, survive? Yes, because humans don't need an appendix.

Question #2:

If this were to occur, would this prove the theory of evolution? No, because the theory of evolution has to do with survival by means of natural selection.

Evolution of species is easily proveable, and is observable by almost every human being in daily life. For instance, we can clearly see that if two caucasian people have a child, the child will also be caucasian. We can test that child's DNA and see that the DNA is the DNA of a caucasion person. Similarly, if a caucasian person and an asian person have a child, the child will have visible traits of both races. We can also test the DNA of that child and see that the DNA of both races are present.

However, if you are talking about Darwin's Theory of Evolution, then you are not asking if the above example will prove that evolution exists; you are asking if the above example will prove that evolution occurs with the process of "natural selection".

We've already seen that human survival does not depend on the appendix. Therefore, humans with an appendix are no more likely to be born, or to survive, or have fewer diseases, or be able procreate, or have any other attribute that would make them and their offsprings' survival more likely than a human with no appendix. Using the second example above, a caucasian human is no more or less likely to survive than a caucasian-asian - at least, not that we know of at this time.

But to see how natural selection works, let's just say, for example, that some disease developed that only affected caucasian people. Let's also just say it was highly contagious. And let's also suppose that the reason that no other race was affected was because other races had some gene combination that instantly killed the disease organism. Anyone who had a gene from a race that was not caucasian would be immune, becuase the disease would not survive in their bodies long enough to make them ill.

In this very simplified example, if no cure were found, all of the caucasian people would eventually die. This aggressive disease only affects caucasian people, so the caucasian race would no longer exist. All the other races would still exist. And, so would the mixed offspring of caucasians and other races. Those mixed offspring, who previously had no genes that made them more likely to survive than any other human on earth, were able to continue to survive - unlike their purely caucasian relatives. Caucasian genes would continue to exist, but only in combination with other racial genes. Perhaps some random offspring might end up with a complete set of caucasian DNA, if they received only caucasian genes from both of their parents, but then that offspring would die because they would get the disease. They would not be viable, and would not be able to reproduce.

So to answer your question: It's only possible to see the process of natural selection, and therefore prove Darwin's Theory of Evolution, if some event occurs to threaten the survival of some organisms but not others, and the reason for the survival threat has to do with biological differences between the two groups of organisms. Changes that occur which do not threaten survival do not exhibit natural selection. Therefore, the loss of an unnecessary attribute, like the appendix, is not relevant to a proof of Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

Answer 4

There is a convincing body of evidence that says that the appendix is needed after birth to enhance the immunity of a newborn. Even if it had no function, evolution has so many holes in it that I doubt it will ever become a valid theory. In fact, recent scientific discoveries lately are casting some serious doubt on evolution.

Answer 5

No, we will not evolve into not having one unless a mutation occurs. The appendix in humans is a vestigial organ- meaning it is just there but isn't really useful for anything. If it doesn't bother us, or doesn't diminish our chance of survival, the body will not get rid of it then.

Answer 6

Maybe. Humans probably had a lot more unnecessary body parts that may have disappeared according to the theory of evolution. Our last toe might also disappear next few million years. U can never know.

Answer 7

The appendix is an organ that used to allow us humans to easily digest cellulose, a common building block in all plant matter. Ever since we started to become omnivores, natural selection has made our appendix smaller. Eventually, our appendix will cease to exist if we continue to head in the same direction, food wise.

Answer 8

"evolve"out of having one ? yes , god willing .