Sterols represent one of the most ubiquitous and diverse classes of biological molecules derived from the common precursor, mevalonic acid. While there are thematically similar modes by which various organisms synthesize sterols, there also are some unique twists in the pathways by which such organisms produce sterols as well as differences in the chemical nature of the dominant resident sterol present at steady-state in a given organism or cell type. In this issue of the Journal of Lipid Research, David Nes and colleagues [Zhou et al.
