by Elio — A long, long time ago, a bio­chemist friend of mine said to me jok­ingly (I think): "When I hear the word lipid, I reach for my gun!" I'm not sure it was all that funny then, but any at­tempts at dis­parag­ing hu­mor must cease now. A month doesn't go by with­out a re­port of a new role that lipids play in es­sen­tial life processes.