No ATG is an island--the connection of autophagy with diverse pathways and functions.

The International Symposium on Auto­ phagy (ISA) is an important meeting with a long history devoted solely to the topic of autophagy. Yoshimori Ohsumi (Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan), who identified a series of autophagy­related genes (ATG genes) in yeast [1], proposed and organized the first ISA in Okazaki, Japan, in 1997. Over the years, the ISA sym­ posia have witnessed the explosive growth of autophagy research in the following spe­ cific areas: molecular dissection of core ATG gene products; genetic studies of the role of ATGs in multiple species; and patho­ physiological aspects of autophagy in higher eukary otes, including neurodegeneration, cancer and inflammation. The ISA, together with the prestigious Gordon Research Conferences (2003–), Keystone Symposia (2007–) and EMBO Courses and Workshops (2009–), has always provided an inter­ national forum for rosters of excellent speak­ ers to present new discoveries that advance our global understanding of autophagy.