• Question: how many different organs are in the human body? thanks in advance!

    Asked by 855furk43 to Chris, Joanne, Kathryn, Kieran, Sarah on 8 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Sarah Guerin

      Sarah Guerin answered on 8 Nov 2017:

      Excellent question! Up until last year there was officially 78 organs in the human body, and then scientists in the University of Limerick discovered a new one called the mesentery.

      https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/mesentery-a-new-organ-has-been-discovered-inside-the-human-body-by-a-scientist-at-irish-university-35340585.html

    • Photo: Chris Werner

      Chris Werner answered on 8 Nov 2017:

      Depends how one classifies what an organ is as there is no formal definition (yea! there’s one less definition). Because there is no single standard definition of what an organ is, the number of organs varies depending on how one defines an organ. Sarah mentioned 78, which looks at the different components of the systems in the body.

      Most people tend to consider vital organs or organ systems. We have 12 organ systems (such as digestive, immune, reproductive, nervous etc) and most people agree we have 5 vital organs: the brain, the heart, the liver, the lungs, the kidneys.

      Funny you’d think the biologists would have made an official definition for that! đŸ™‚

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