Thanks for the Memories

摘要

After 5 years in the catbird seat, watching the progression of scientific discoveries move across the desks of our editors and onto our pages, it seems appropriate to reflect on the interesting times through which we have traveled together. As Editor-in-Chief, it was my good fortune to witness truly amazing discoveries and achievements. Among those that remain most intensely etched in my mind are the evidence for possible life on Mars, the Bose-Einstein condensate, the emergence of nanotechnology, the expanding universe, the basis for nearby planetary chaos, and remarkable archaeological insights into human origins. Equally thrilling to recall are the whole bacterial and plant genomes already sequenced, as well as C. elegans, Drosophila, and soon the human genome; the atomic coordinates of complex molecules such as cytochrome C, erythropoietin, immunoglobulin enfolding its antigens, and the potassium channel; the chemokines and their receptors through which HIV infects; numerous new regulatory peptides and markers of oncogenic vulnerability; the cloning of whole animals; the isolation of adult totipotent stem cells; and many, many more. Unquestionably, the past 5 years are most vividly epitomized by the ascent of the Internet and the significant changes that it is imposing on scholarly publishing, as well as on almost every other aspect of our society. But, like Mark Twain's death, the reports of the impending demise of scientific journals seem greatly exaggerated.