Intestine

Our intestine isn’t only our largest organ, with a surface of about 300 square meters, but also offers an important habitat for numerous microorganisms - Dr. Verena Stieglbauer & Dr. Lukas Grumet

HWN Suggests

Peptides in the Gut

Our stomachs and intestines are well evolved to rip everything we eat into tiny molecular shreds and only passing those building blocks through the gut wall. At that point everything gets dumped into the hepatic portal vein on a one-way ride into the liver. At that point things are sorted and packaged for further use - depending on your favorite literary analogies, you can think of it as the Sorting Hat scene in Harry Potter, or as Minos in Dante's Inferno, listening to the sins of the damned souls and then flinging them into the appropriate circles of Hell. The liver will also take any substances it doesn't recognize and attempt to rip them into tiny excretable pieces, which is what all our…

read full article

Featured

What are the real signs of a healthy gut? A user’s guide

It’s a huge organ that gives us the energy to live, grow and repair. But how does it work – and how do you keep it healthy? Our science editor unravels its astonishing job

Human Gut Has The Surface Area Of A Studio Apartment

Textbooks (here are just a few) say the surface area of the human gut is about 300 square meters, or about the size of a tennis court. But who will fact-check the fact-makers, hmm? HMMMM? Never fear, two researchers recently revisited this question and came up with a correction. “Actually, the inner surface of the gastro-intestinal tract is only as large as a normal studio apartment,” gastrointestinal surgery researcher Lars Fändriks said in a statement. Fändriks and a colleague, Herbert Helander, both from the University of Gothenberg in Sweden, found the average surface area of the human gut is actually about 32 square meters, a strange and remarkable discrepancy.

Articles of Interest

Atlas of the human intestine

The intestine is the largest and the most multifunctional organ in the human body and is responsible for food digestion, nutrient absorption and transportation, forming a barrier for microorganism defense, immune response to pathogens, and hormonal regulation via intestinal–brain communication.

Gastrointestinal Tract: A Neglected Guardian Angel?

Role of the gastrointestinal (GI) system is not limited to the digestion of food and absorption of water and nutrients. Gastrointestinal mucosa forms a barrier preventing translocation of microbes into the blood.

Go with your gut—the hidden secrets and powers of microbiomes

THE HUMAN microbiome consists of trillions of microorganisms like bacteria, viruses and fungi. Scientists are researching how these tiny creatures could be linked to Parkinson’s disease, diabetes and other diseases. Also, how understanding soil microbiomes could help combat climate change.

How The Microbes Inside Us Went From Enemies To Purported Superhealers

"Microbes have always ruled the planet but for the first time in history, they are fashionable," writes Ed Yong in his new book, I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life...

Human Intestinal Organoids: Promise and Challenge

The study of human intestinal biology in healthy and diseased conditions has always been challenging. Primary obstacles have included limited tissue accessibility, inadequate in vitro maintenance and ethical constrains. The development of three-dimensional organoid cultures has transformed this entirely.

Scientists create a synthetic lining for the intestine to make delivering drugs easier

Scientists have created a synthetic small intestinal lining designed to treat certain digestive diseases or make it easier for the body to absorb certain drugs — all contained in a solution that one day be could be gulped down in a single drink.

The Hidden Beauty of Intestinal Villi

The human small intestine, though modest in diameter and folded compactly to fit into the abdomen, is anything but small. It measures on average about 20 feet from end to end and plays a big role in the gastrointestinal tract, breaking down food and drink from the stomach to absorb the water and nutrients. Also anything but small is the total surface area of the organ’s inner lining, where millions of U-shaped folds in the mucosal tissue triple the available space to absorb the water and nutrients that keep our bodies nourished. If these folds, packed with finger-like absorptive cells called villi, were flattened out, they would be the size of a tennis court!

The miracle of the intestines

Our intestine isn’t only our largest organ, with a surface of about 300 square meters, but also offers an important habitat for numerous microorganisms.

The Twitch That Helps Your Intestines Grow

Pulsing movements in an embryo are crucial to helping intestines grow into the wonder tube that it is, a study finds.

What does gut got to do with it?

The proportions of our bodies are a product of millions of years of evolution, including our stomachs! Our ancestor Homo erectus evolved a narrower ribcage and pelvis, shorter large intestines, and longer small intestines. This made the early human gut smaller and it decreased the time it took to digest food! The shorter gut allows for more energy to be diverted from the intestines to other important organs of the body, such as the brain.