In their recent publication in the Oxford University Press' Journal of Medicine, a group of scientists from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences has started a critical discussion by proposing new categories for the newly discovered human body parts. Among the new discoveries is also the recently proposed human organ— Mesentery, discovered by the same group of scientists.In 2016, a group of Irish scientists had proposed the mesentery as a new organ in human body based on the discovery of new details for this already known body part and its role in human health and diseases.
Mesentery was earlier known to provide support to the gut and hold it to the abdominal walls hence was considered as the appendages of the intestine. In the current publication, the Indian group of doctors has stressed upon the requirement of a scientific body that can set criterion to name newly discovered body parts. The group has also come up with a new nomenclature for recognition of the mesentery.
"Discovery of the human body parts is not a usual thing and happen in the centuries. Against this usual belief, many human body parts have been discovered in the last few years. But many scientists and academicians have regarded it over-reach of the investigators to call these structures organs, and this has turned as a hot debate in the medical science institutions. Some scientists put a strong objection to calling it an organ citing lack of a specific function devoted to this body part. Now we have proposed a new nomenclature for it, called the intestine and the mesentery together as conjugate or yoke organs," said Dr Ashutosh Kumar, Clinical Researcher, AIIMS Patna (former AIIMS Delhi).
Doctor Sanjib Kumar Ghosh, Senior Anatomist, AIIMS, says that the surge in the discovery of new human body parts is the result of tremendous advancement in the microscopic and imaging systems and further discoveries may be appearing which may intensify the crisis of nomenclature for these previously not known body parts. In fact, a clear-cut criterion never existed and body parts were named arbitrarily, being their discoveries separated centuries apart, further elaborated stressing upon the need for a nomenclature system for identifying human body parts at macroscopic and microscopic levels. Another new human organ 'interstitium' was this year reported by the scientists from Lagone Health Centre.