solitary flight

§103 Suicide is necrotic

Suicide is necrotic.

The blind mole rate is incapable of apoptosis, suggesting greater susceptibility to cancer.

“But,” says Steven Austad of the University of Texas, “blind mole rat cells find a way to off themselves … The cells release a chemical called interferon-beta, which the immune system normally uses to fight viruses. In this case, the chemical caused blind mole rat cells to burst open in a violent death known as necrosis.”

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Tina Hesman Saey, “Cancer Cells Self-destruct in Blind Mole Rats,” Science News (Dec. 15, 2012).