 The discovery of necroptosis showed that cells can execute necrosis in a programmed fashion and that apoptosis is not always the preferred form of cell death.Furthermore, the immunogenic nature of necroptosis favors its participation in certain circumstances, such as aiding in defence against pathogens by the immune system.Necroptosis is well defined as a viral defense mechanism, allowing the cell to undergo "cellular suicide" in a caspase-independent fashion in the presence of viral caspase inhibitors to restrict virus replication.