Since the identification of DAPK1 by Kimchi and co-workers1 numerous studies have shown that DAPK1 functions as a tumour suppressor, is linked to key events in autophagy and is involved in mitochondrial maintenance2 and metabolism.3 DAPK2, which was characterised in 1999,4 is significantly smaller than DAPK1, and it lacks ankyrin repeats, the cytoskeletal binding domain and the death domain, all of which are part of DAPK1's unique structure.1 Several functions have been ascribed to DAPK2 and they often coincide with those of DAPK1. The gene discussed is DAPK1; the disease is neoplasm.