Since the early 1970’s Ole Peterson has been at the forefront of many of the major scientific discoveries that have moulded our understanding of pancreatic acinar cell physiology and of the pathophysiology leading to acinar cell necrosis and acute pancreatitis.1 Pulse chase studies in the 1970s identified exocytosis as the key secretory pathway in pancreatic acini, occurring in response to physiologic concentrations of cholecystokinin or acetylcholine. The gene discussed is CCK; the disease is acute pancreatitis.