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Description of  Biochemistry of Apoptosis and Autophagy (Advances in Biochemistry in Health and Disease, 18)

One of the most intriguing and compelling issues to impact contemporary biology to date is the concept that cell death is genetically regulated. Observations by Kerr and Wyllie, made more than 30 years ago on the basis of distinct morphological criteria, markedly distinguished apoptosis from classical cell death by necrosis. Apoptosis is a highly regulated, evolutionary conserved, genetic program of cell death essential for normal development and tissue homeostasis. The discovery of apoptosis as a regulated event and potentially amenable to therapeutic interventions has generated considerable excitement because it meant that disease entities resulting from either too much, or too little, apoptosis could be potentially cured with new therapies that target apoptosis. Read more