CYP11A1 and congenital adrenal hyperplasia: This brief overview provides a timeline of events in four converging areas of study: mechanisms of the acute regulation of steroidogenesis, leading to StAR; lipoid congenital adrenal hyperplasia, the ‘StAR knockout of nature’; the chronic regulation of steroidogenesis at the level of the cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme, P450scc; and the ongoing studies about the cell biology of StAR.