Ferroptosis is a cell death mechanism that has only become known comparatively recently, being named in 2012. This so-called non-apoptotic cell death occurs when too many oxygen radicals and free iron are present in a cell. Certain molecules in the cell membrane, namely phospholipids, are then oxidized and thereby damaged. Without a corresponding counter-reaction, the cell membrane is eventually destroyed, leading to the death of the cell as a whole.
