..AND HIS UNBALANCED SUICIDAL DEPRESSION.

"Apoptosis" has been a hot topic in life sciences for more than a decade. It's also called "programmed cell death" and "cell suicide." Whatever you want to call it, apoptosis is an active process. What I mean by "active process" is that apoptosis is a response to a stimulus (or lack of stimulus) that is programmed, precise and regulated. It's an essential process for all multicellular organisms--regulating development, protecting against viral infection, and stopping cancers in their tracks. But when apoptosis is "inappropriately" activated, it leads to pathology--as after brain ischemia.

But we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves.