As we already know, our body is asymmetrical. Despite having two arms, two feet, two eyes ... there is always one of the two that is bigger than the other. This asymmetry is more noticeable in certain organs such as the heart, which is only present on the left side.
And good? What determines that the heart is on the left? There is a kind of sphere in our body that contains fluid and a kind of hairs called cilia. The cilia are responsible for giving movement to this liquid and only if this liquid achieves the flow in the proper orientation, will there be a correct asymmetry in the body. The number, length and distribution of these cilia is key to the asymmetric development of our body.
The inversin gene is one of the main genes responsible for the correct flow of the sphere. Various studies have revealed the importance of this gene in preventing, among other alterations, heart abnormalities and in rare cases situs inversus totalis. Situs inversus totalis It is the change of all our body organs. If we suffer situs inversus totalis we will have the heart on the right, the appendix on the left, etc.
And you may wonder, can you live the other way around? It seems incredible, but yes. Many of the people who suffer from it live without any complications despite having all the organs backwards.
