Rocaglamide A (RocA) typifies a class of protein synthesis inhibitors that selectively kill aneuploid tumour cells and repress translation of specific messenger RNAs. RocA targets eukaryotic initiation factor 4A (eIF4A), an ATP-dependent DEAD-box RNA helicase; its messenger RNA selectivity is proposed to reflect highly structured 5′ untranslated regions that depend strongly on eIF4A-mediated unwinding. However, rocaglate treatment may not phenocopy the loss of eIF4A...