Programmed cell death, or apoptosis, is a genetically encoded form of cell suicide that results in the orderly death and phagocytic removal of excess, damaged, or dangerous cells during normal development and in the adult. The cellular machinery required to carry out apoptosis is present in most, if not all cells, but is only activated in cells instructed to die (for review see Jacobson et al. 1997). Here, we review cell death regulation in the fly in the context of a first pass look at the complete Drosophila genome and what is known about death regulation in other organisms, particularly worms and vertebrates. ; © 2000 The Rockefeller University Press. Submitted 15 June 2000;revised 21 June 2000;accepted 21 June 2000. This work was supported by grants to B.A. Hay from a Burroughs Wellcome Fund New Investigator Award in the Pharmacological Sciences, the Ellison Medical Foundation, and from the National Institutes of Health (No. GM057422-01). S.J. Yoo is supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Jane Coffin Childs Foundation. ; Published - VERjcb00.pdf