• Question: how many organs do we have and what are they?

    Asked by aamnaraza to Dalya, Derek, Sarah, Tim, Tom on 20 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Tim Millar

      Tim Millar answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Difficult question this unless we define what an organ is. Do we add in glands as organs or stick to the big ones, lungs heart etc.

      Including all the glands there are something like 78, but for me i think the heart, brain, lungs, liver, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, skin, and vascular system is a good start and covers the basics

    • Photo: Derek McKay-Bukowski

      Derek McKay-Bukowski answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Definitely a question for the biologists.

      (I wonder what the difference is between and gland and an organ?)

    • Photo: Tom Crick

      Tom Crick answered on 18 Jun 2011:

      Good elaboration by Tim: you would need to define “organ”, because I would call skin an organ.

      Also hard to list them all here!

    • Photo: Sarah Thomas

      Sarah Thomas answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      If your definition of an organ is when you have 2 or more tissue types functioning together then there are 52 organs in the body. (ie not including glands).

      There are 12 major organs, which are the ones we need to live. These are the heart, 2 lungs, liver, skin, 2 kidneys, brain, bladder, small intestine, large intestine and the reproductive organs.

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