As shown in Figure 1B, depletion of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC1), fatty acid synthase (FASN), or stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD1) results in decreased viability (or cellular metabolism) (as measured by cellular ATP levels using Cell-Titer Glo) in HCT116 colon cancer cells, by 30%, 30%, and 70%, respectively, versus a non-targeting siRNA control, which was designated as 100% viability In each case, mRNA knockdown was determined by real-time RT-PCR to be approximately 80% (not shown). The gene discussed is SCD; the disease is malignant colon neoplasm.