This story is part of a series exploring human anatomy and physiology complexities. Each story in this collection showcases discoveries reshaping our understanding of the body's inner workings, ...

The intestines work by absorbing nutrients and vitamins. They are part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Together, the small and large intestines run from the end of the stomach to the anus. In this ...

The human small intestine is an essential organ that helps us absorb nutrients and vitamins from food. It is an average of 6 meters long and is covered with millions of villi that are separated by ...

Bacteria in the small intestine adapt dynamically to our nutritional state, with individual species disappearing and reappearing. Researchers at the University of Bern and University Hospital Bern ...

An international team of scientists based in the Netherlands, and in China, has found that intestinal cells can change specializations during their lives, driven by the BMP signaling pathway, an ...