New Body Part Discovered – You May Or May Not Have It

Scientists have been studying the human body for thousands of years. You'd think they have it all down by now, right? Turns out that a new body part has been discovered! And about 3% of the world's population doesn't have it. Keep reading to find out what this new body part is, where it is, and more!

From Inquisitr:

The new part, called the anterolateral ligament (ALL), was dissected for the first time in a new study published this week in the Journal of Anatomy. According to the researchers, three percent of the population doesn’t have the ligament.

Science Daily reports that two knee surgeons working at the hospitals discovered the ligament, which appears to play a role in patients with tears in their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

Despite successful surgeries to repair the ACL, plus rehabilitation, some patients continue to experience “pivot shift,” where the knee “gives away” during activity. Dr. Steven Claes and Professor Dr. Johan Bellemans conducted research for the past four years into serious ACL injuries to find out why this happens.

Medical Daily notes that the ALL is a “pearly band” that connects the femur to the anterolaterial tibia. In their conclusion, the study authors explained, “Given its structure and anatomic location, the ALL is hypothesized to control internal tibial rotation and thus to affect the pivot shift phenomenon, although further studies are needed to investigate its biochemical function.”

 

Apparently we're still not done finding out new parts of our bodies. Over the summer, a new layer of the eye was discovered!