It looks like we're all starting 2017 with a brand new organ in our bodies that we never knew we had.

Scientists at the University of Limerick have discovered a new organ in our digestive systems called the mesentery. 

Basically, the mesentery works like a belt of tissue to keep your intestines in place in a way that means it doesn’t have to be attached to your abdomen.

The #mesentery as an organ in its own right: its structure, function, and role in #gastrointestinal disease https://t.co/A21oa8vetk #free pic.twitter.com/yNMHswVLoD

— Lancet Gastro & Hep (@LancetGastroHep) January 4, 2017

"The mesentery, which connects the intestine to the abdomen, had for hundreds of years been considered a fragmented structure made up of multiple separate parts," reads a UL statement. 

It has only recently been classified as an organ separate to the intestines, as it has been discovered that it is actually one continuous structure. 

Although its complete function is still unclear, the discovery opens up “a whole new area of science”, according to J Calvin Coffey, the UL researcher who first discovered it.

Our body now has an extra organ — meet the mesentery.

— Carlo Datoy (@carlodatoy13) January 7, 2017

"When we approach it like every other organ… we can categorise abdominal disease in terms of this organ," he told the Irish Times. 

“Now we have established anatomy and the structure. The next step is the function. If you understand the function, you can identify abnormal function, and then you have disease."

Gray’s Anatomy, the world’s most famous medical textbook, has even been updated to include the new definition.