In these tumours, bcl-2 is hooked up to an antibody gene, just like the myc gene in Burkitt s lymphoma. Before Cory and her team worked on bcl-2, the gene had been regarded as a mystery. Their work produced a paradigm shift in this area of genetics. But here was a mutation which allowed cells to survive under hostile conditions and, while surviving, they were able to accumulate further mutations. When a mutation which increases the capacity of a cell to survive, is combined with another mutation which forces it to divide, the result is a rapidly growing tumour.
All cells have a suicide program encoded in their genes.
This is for the good of the organism. If cells are infected by a virus, for example, it s better for the organism that they die, and that s what they usually do. Apoptosis is also crucial to keep the balance between cell production and cell death in an organism. If the longevity of cells wasn t tightly defined, we d blow up with the number of cells we produce every day. Biology over-produces, selects what it wants and discards the rest.