 It is believed that phenoptosis is an evolutionary mechanism that culls out the damaged, aged, infectious, or those in direct competition with their own offspring for the good of the species.The elimination of parts detrimental to the organism or individuals detrimental to the species has been deemed "The samurai law of biology" – it is better to die than to be wrong.Stress-induced, acute, or fast phenoptosis is the rapid deterioration of an organism induced by a life event such as breeding.