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Nature 432, 963 (23 December 2004) | doi:10.1038/432963a; Published online 22 December 2004
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Developmental biology: Survival by self-digestion
Nathaniel Heintz1
Abstract
Mammals face a problem just after birth: they are no longer nourished through the placenta, but suckling has not yet begun. How do they survive? Digestion of the animal's own cells could be the answer.
All organisms must adapt to environmental stresses. One of the most beautiful examples of a response to stress is autophagy — a process first described in electron microscopic studies in the kidneys of newborn mice1, and now known to be one of the major pathways for the degradation of long-lived proteins and cellular organelles2, 3.
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10021, USA.
Email: heintz@mail.rockefeller.edu
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