Death in darkness: A new type of cell death discovered in fly guts
A research group led by Sa Kan Yoo at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) has discovered a completely unknown type of cell death that takes place in the guts of the common fruit fly. The new process, called erebosis by the researchers, is thought to play a role in gut metabolism. The findings compel a revision of the conventional concept of cell death and overturn the previously established theory of tissue homeostasis in the gut. The study was published April 25 in PLoS Biology.