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apoptosis: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As programmed cell death • programmed life termination • programmed death

Photos

Diagram of a cell showing how extrinsic factors like nutrient loss and X-rays, and intrinsic factors like DNA damage and malformed proteins, trigger apoptosis, leading to cell breakdown and disposal by scavenger cells.
Failure of DNA repair mechanismsDNA repair mechanisms maintain the integrity of DNA, which often acquires mutations during replication. If these mechanisms fail, or if the cell does not undergo apoptosis (a genetically encoded cell “suicide”), more mutations may occur, and the cells will proliferate. If the proliferation is slow and localized to the area in which it begins, the result is a benign tumour. With fast, uncontrolled growth and the invasion of other tissues, a malignant tumour arises.
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Key People

Horvitz, H. Robert
H. Robert Horvitz
American biologist
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John Sulston
British biologist
Sydney Brenner
Sydney Brenner
South African-born biologist