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Cover  The first Caenorhabditis elegans mutant with a defect in programmed cell death (apoptosis), described by Hedgecock, Sulston, and Thomson. Sulston and Horvitz (1977) had noted that cells die as part of normal C. elegans development. Hedgecock et al. identified mutants in which the dying cells were not subject to phagocytosis by nearby cells. They found that the cells died anyway, and that refractile dying cells accumulated in the mutants. Hedgecock et al. concluded that engulfment was not necessary for cell death, and that these deaths were likely to be suicides. In subsequent years, additional cell death genes were identified based on their ability to suppress the accumulation of dying cells, including ced-3 and ced-4, which direct the apoptosis program. Reprinted (abstracted/excerpted) with permission from Hedgecock et al. (1983). Mutations affecting programmed cell deaths in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Science 220, 1277-1279. Copyright 1983 American Association for the Advancement of Science (www.sciencemag.org).Cori Bargmann