The availability of BH3 mimetics, developed for use in cancer, offer tools to probe the contribution of Bcl-2 family proteins in seizure models but we await small molecules that enhance or mimic the actions of anti-apoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family that might be put to use to protect the brain against injury caused by status epilepticus and, perhaps, epileptogenesis. This evidence concerns the gene BCL2 and cancer.