Cell death can be accidental or programmed in a multicellular organism. Evidence supports the proposition that there is a 'suicide program' inherent in vertebrate cells which can be activated when the cell's death is desirable for the good of the rest of the community. The morphology of such death is usually that of apoptosis, rather than of necrosis. Here, John Cohen describes the changes of apoptosis, and discusses progress on the identification of regulatory mechanisms and genes.