Cell death in developing systems

Abstract

The so called 'normal', 'physiological' or 'programmed' cell death constitutes now a major field of developmental and cell biology. In the present article we review recent information on the biological significance of cell death in development. Special attention is paid to the range of techniques available for studies on cell death, the role of cell death during normal and abnormal development and to the mechanisms controlling cell death, including epigenetic and genetic factors.