Toward a standard model for autophagosome biogenesis

Two papers in this issue resolve a long-standing obstacle to a "standard model" for autophagosome biogenesis in mammals. The first, Olivas et al. (2023. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.202208088), uses biochemistry to confirm that the lipid scramblase ATG9A is a bona fide autophagosome component, while the second, Broadbent et al. (2023. J. Cell Biol. https://doi.org/10.1083/jcb.202210078), uses particle tracking to show that the dynamics of autophagy proteins are consistent with the concept.