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).