Recent research has pointed to the crucial role of fatty acid oxidation (FAO) as an essential source of NADH, FADH2, NADPH and ATP, all providing survival advantage to cancer.5, 6, 7 As the key rate-limiting enzyme of FAO, carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPTI) controls FAO directly and thus facilitates cancer metabolic adaptation. The gene discussed is CPT1C; the disease is cancer.