Apoptosis is currently one of the fastest moving fields in biology with
spec- tacular progress made over the past few years in delineating the
molecular mechanisms which underlie this process. It is nowindisputable
thatapoptosis plays an essential role in normal cell physiology and that
aberrant apoptosis can manifest itself in a variety of human disorders.
Published in two parts (Volumes 23 and 24 of the series entitled Results
and Problems in Cell Dif- ferentiation), this is an attempt to bring
together many different aspects of apoptosis. Given that this is such a
vast and rapidly expanding field, it is almost impossible to cover
everything that is now known about apoptosis in two short books, but I
hope these volumes prove to be a guidepost, provid- ing basic essential
information on the biology and molecular mechanisms of apoptosis and its
implications in some human diseases. Asasignificantamount of
newinformation on apoptosis isemerging every week, it isunrealistic to
expect that by the time these two books are published, allthe articles
willdeliver up-to-date information. Nevertheless, Ibelieve that the
fundamentals of the apoptotic phenomenon are now firmly in place and are
discussed at length in various chapters. Readers may find a small degree
of overlap between some chapters. This was unavoidable since
closelyrelated areas of apoptosis research have been covered by more
than one author.