Reconstituting autophagosome nucleation To stay healthy, our cells must constantly dispose of harmful material. Autophagy, or self-eating, is an important mechanism to ensure the clearance of bulky material. Such material is enwrapped by cellular membranes to form autophagosomes, the contents of which are then degraded. The formation of autophagosomes is a complicated process involving a large number of factors. How they act together in this process is still enigmatic. Sawa-Makarska et al. recapitulated the initial steps of autophagosome formation using purified autophagy factors from yeast. This approach elucidated some of the organizational principles of the autophagy machinery during the assembly of autophagosomes. Science , this issue p. eaaz7714