Which statement is a description of one of the characteristics of apoptosis?

Apoptosis is a tightly regulated form of programmed cell death that is essential for maintaining homeostasis within tissues by eliminating damaged or unwanted cells without eliciting inflammation. The characteristic of apoptosis that involves "programmed cell death of scattered single cells" aligns well with its main features. During apoptosis, individual cells undergo a series of morphological changes, including cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation, and fragmentation into membrane-bound apoptotic bodies, which can be phagocytosed by neighboring cells or immune cells. This process allows for the removal of cells in a controlled manner, minimizing damage to surrounding tissue.

The other statements do not accurately capture the essence of apoptosis. While apoptosis indeed pertains to single cells rather than groups, the swelling of the nucleus and cytoplasm is more indicative of necrosis, which is an uncontrolled cell death process leading to inflammation. Apoptosis is also characterized by predictable patterns of cell death, driven by intrinsic and extrinsic signaling pathways. Lastly, apoptosis does not result in benign malignancies; rather, failure of apoptosis can contribute to tumorigenesis by allowing aberrant or potentially cancerous cells to evade death and proliferate uncontrollably.