Rete Ovarii: The Female Body Part Ignored For Decades May Be Key For Ovary Health

The structure was discovered, deemed useless, ignored, then forgotten. Now, researchers think it could be crucial for ovary function.

Ever heard of the “rete ovarii”?

If you answered “no”, you have every reason. Even though it was discovered and described in humans over 150 years ago (drawings of it appear in early copies of Grey’s Anatomy, an anatomy reference book that’s been running since 1858), scientists quickly dubbed it purposeless.

The structure, which lies near the ovaries, became so ignored that it was eventually removed from textbooks altogether. It was considered a “functionless vestige” of the adult ovary, meaning experts decided it was a useless evolutionary holdover.

But a study from Duke........

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