For example, heart-specific Beclin 1 overexpressing transgenic mice with enhanced autophagy show cardiomyopathy while Beclin 1 heterozygous KOs mice with reduced autophagy are protected from pressure-overload stimulated cardiomyopathy collectively suggesting that augmented autophagy can lead to a degenerative like disorder in the heart (Zhu et al., 2007). This evidence concerns the gene BECN1 and cardiomyopathy.