To examine the role of autophagy in the development of pancreatic cancer in a model that best mirrors the human disease, we crossed conditional Atg7 knockout mice (Atg7fl/fl) to mice expressing mutant Kras (KrasG12D/+) and mutant Trp53 (Trp53R172H/+)—two mutational events frequently associated with PDAC development (17). The gene discussed is ATG7; the disease is familial pancreatic carcinoma.