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Genetic Control of Programmed Cell Death in the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans¹

Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

² To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biology, Room 68-425, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139. Phone: (617) 253-4671; Fax: (617) 253-8126.

Studies of the development of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans established that programmed cell death involves specific genes and proteins and that those genes and proteins act within the cells that die. This finding revealed that cell death is a fundamental and active biological process, much like cell division and cell differentiation. The characterization of genes responsible for programmed cell death in C. elegans has defined a molecular genetic pathway. This pathway is conserved evolutionarily and provides a basis for understanding programmed cell death in more complex organisms, including humans. Knowledge of the mechanisms of programmed cell death should help lead to new methods for the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases characterized by too many or too few cell deaths, including cancer.

¹ Presented at the "General Motors Cancer Research Foundation Twentieth Annual Conference: Developmental Biology and Cancer," June 9–10, 1998, Bethesda, MD. The studies performed in my laboratory were supported by NIH Research Grants GM24663 and GM24943 and by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. H. R. H. is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Received 11/11/98. Accepted 1/28/99.

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