Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death (PCD) that may occur in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes and death. These changes include blebbing, cell shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and chromosomal DNA fragmentation. In contrast to necrosis, which is a form of traumatic cell death that results from acute cellular injury, apoptosis generally confers advantages during an organism’s life cycle.
