In 1990, Washington University – St. Louis researcher Stanley J. Korsmeyer, MD co-discovered the gene ‘bcl-2’, a pivotal piece in cancer development. Korsmeyer opened new doors to the understanding and treatment of cancer when he co-discovered the oncogene Bcl-2, which when overexpressed can lead to follicular lymphoma.

His studies provided evidence that Bcl-2 was the first member of a new category of cancer-causing genes — genes that work not by driving cells to proliferate, but rather by preventing them from dying via a process known as programmed cell death, or apoptosis. By causing cells that normally die to survive instead, elevated expression of Bcl-2 can allow those cells to accumulate additional mutations and become cancerous.