 The product of this gene, which is similar to "bcl-2", protects cells from programmed cell death, so its expression conveys a life-or-death decision on individual cells.In 1992, it was shown by David Vaux and Stuart Kim at Stanford that human "bcl-2" gene could inhibit programmed cell death in the worm, thus linking programmed cell death and apoptosis - revealing them to be the same, evolutionarily conserved process.In 1993, graduate students Shai Shaham and Junying Yuan working in Horvitz's laboratory identified interleukin-1-beta-converting enzyme as the mammalian homolog of the CED-3 enzyme.