An 'IRBIT'uary before cell death

(RIKEN) Billions of cells in our bodies die every day in an important process called apoptosis. Now, researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute have mapped out a sequence of events that are necessary for apoptosis to occur properly. Published in eLife, the study focuses on the protein IRBIT and how its action near mitochondria in our cells can set off a chain reaction that leads to programmed cell death.