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Nature 433, 692-694 (17 February 2005) | doi:10.1038/433692a; Published online 16 February 2005

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Cell biology: Divide and conquer

Michael Hengartner1

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The discovery that cell death in nematode worms induces fragmentation of mitochondria reveals a new parallel to the death process in mammals, and may shed light on why mitochondria divide in death.

When mammalian cells die by the process of apoptosis, their mitochondria fragment into smaller pieces. Why these power-generating compartments should divide as the cell around them dies, and whether this fragmentation is important for the death process or simply an epiphenomenon, has so far largely remained unclear.

  1. Michael Hengartner is at the Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
    e-mail: Email: michael.hengartner@molbio.unizh.ch

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