Taxol has clinical efficacy on many malignant tumors, thus having a good market prospects. The anti-cancer mechanism of taxol is to arrest the cell cycle of tumor cells, leading to apoptosis. Based on our research over the years, we reviewed the latest developments in signaling pathways, the effects of related genes and proteins on apoptosis during paclitaxel-induced apoptosis process, including the paclitaxel-producing gene in microbial fermentation process, cyclin, telomerase of apoptosis.