An extensive amount of research in the past three decades has revealed many pathways of cell death. Although ‘apoptosis’ is the term used for most types of cell death, the pathways that lead to it are not always the same. The list of agents that mediate apoptosis is constantly growing. Because cancer is a hyperproliferative disorder, apoptosis of cancer cells and not of normal cells is a critical issue. Both physiologic and pharmacologic inducers of apoptosis have been identified. At an international conference held in Kerala, India, scientists discussed how apoptosis occurs, what mediates it, what pharmacologic agents induce it, how it is genetically regulated, and its role in tumorigenesis and cancer.

It is said that multiple pathways can lead to enlightenment. What better place to discuss this than Thirvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala. Created by Parsuram, the legendary Brahmin ‘protector,’ Kerala, the southernmost state in India, sits where the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea meet, where Vasco de Gama landed in search of spices, where St. Thomas landed in search of enlightenment, where the world's second oldest mosque is located, and where one of the world's oldest synagogues is located.

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