Scientists explain how 'death receptors' designed to kill our cells may make them stronger
Monday, June 1, 2009 - 12:42
in Health & Medicine
It turns out that from the perspective of cell biology, Nietzsche may have been right after all: that which does not kill us does make us stronger. In a review article published in the June 2009 print issue of The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org), scientists from the Mayo Clinic explain how cell receptors (called "death receptors") used by the body to shut down old, diseased, or otherwise unwanted cells (called "apoptosis") may also be used to make cells heartier when facing a wide range of illnesses, from liver disease to cancer.