 Landmark research by David L. Vaux and colleagues described the anti-apoptotic and tumorigenic (tumor-causing) role of the human cancer gene "bcl-2".Researchers had been hot in the track of oncogenes, and now more and more of the pieces were falling into place.However, although "bcl-2" was the first component of the cell death mechanism to be cloned in any organism, identification of other components of the vertebrate mechanism had to await the linking of apoptosis with the mechanism for programmed cell death in the worm.