Finally, if the extent of the oxidative damage exceeds the capacity of repair and removal, the organism is equipped with one final weapon, controlled cell suicide or apoptosis. The ability to induce programmed cell death is of major importance in a variety of bodily functions, including control of tissue growth, and is apparently under control by several signaling pathways. However, one of these appears to be that apoptosis is induced by increased oxidative stress and thus constitutes a final resort to encapsulate and isolate the damaged cells