Apoptosis in Immunology

In any movement of their life, immune cells, especially T and B lymphocytes, are confronted with an essential choice: to continue their existence or to commit a sort of metabolic suicide that is referred to as apoptosis or programmed cell death. In contrast to most philosophers, lymphocytes and their precursors are constantly susceptible to suicide, and it even appears that the usual cause of T or B cell elimination is suicide rather than death from natural causes, accidents or murder. This...