Cells collect, decompose and recycle surplus or damaged cell material. This process, known as autophagy, is important, because cellular waste can be harmful to the entire organism if it accumulates in the cells. Like the treatment of household waste, autophagy requires certain mechanisms and elements. A team led by Prof. Dr. Claudine Kraft from the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Freiburg and Levent Bas from the Institute of Biochemistry and Cellular Biology at the University of Vienna in Austria has made new findings on the role of proteins in the amalgamation of autophagosomes and vacuoles which have now been published in the latest edition of the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB).