Metabolic reprogramming changes how metabolic intermediates are used and how energy is generated by cells. Two pathways, glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), produce the bulk of ATP as well as pools of metabolites for use by the cell. The balance between these pathways is altered in numerous physiological contexts, such as differentiation, but most notably in cancer where aerobic glycolysis is commonly observed. It is now appreciated that these metabolic changes are not simply an indirect result of damaged mitochondria but due to substantial reprogramming of metabolism to support proliferation (

Pavlova and Thompson, 2016). Important questions remain as to how this is accomplished and regulated. In Molecular Cell and Cell Reports, 

Jourdain et al., 2021 (this issue) and 

Daniels et al., 2021 provide evidence of a key role for alternative splicing and LUC7L2 in rewiring the balance between glycolysis and OXPHOS.