Onwards and Upwards
Authors: ROBERT M. FREDERICKSON
Journal: Molecular Therapy (2004)

2004 marks the fifth year of publication of Molecular Therapy. I believe few would disagree that the recognition and acceptance of the journal within the community is impressive considering that the journal is yet a mere toddler. Of course, the support of the American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT) provided the journal a strong foothold in the community, and the choice of Academic Press (now part of Elsevier) as publisher by the ASGT ensured that the journal would benefit from the experience of an established scientific publisher. However, equally important was the choice of a thoughtful and experienced Editor-inChief in Inder Verma, who brought with him a strong and clear vision for the journal. Inder was able early on to recruit a former colleague of mine from the Nature Publishing group, Fintan Steele, who was a strong and enthusiastic Editor with a keen understanding of the academic, commercial and ethical aspects of research in molecular and cellular therapeutics. I was thus thrilled in 2002 to be offered the chance to take over where Fintan left off, as it was as clear to me then, as it is now, that both the journal and the field are exciting places to be at this point in their development. The support of the journal by the editorial board has been key in recruiting contributions of ever-increasing quality and number, securing for the journal this year an impact factor of 6.275—making us the most influential journal among those specializing in the publication of research in gene therapy. Of course, we cannot and will not be content to sit on our laurels, but must continue to maintain the upward trajectory of the journal. Part of the success that we have experienced is arguably due to the efficient editorial process that Inder and Fintan put in place, and which we have retained and further streamlined. Few journals can make the claim, as we do, that we can generally provide an author a first decision on a paper within three weeks of its receipt. Presubmission enquiries and papers not sent out for external review generally receive a response from me within forty-eight hours. While the presence of a professional in-house editor helps speed the review process, we also benefit from a board of associate editors of premier quality and who represent the breadth of the fields covered by this journal. The short history of this journal has coincided with the two major incidents of adverse events in gene therapy clinical trials—the Gelsinger affair and the development of a T-cell proliferative disorder by children treated for XSCID in France. An important lesson from both these events has been how much we have yet to learn about how the human body reacts to the introduction of foreign genes and gene vectors—and the basic biology of gene transfer continues to be a primary focus of this journal. During the same period, the nation and the world were rocked by the terrorist attacks on the United States and the specter of biological terrorism. Researchers in gene transfer have much to offer the battle against bioterror agents—whether through the application of viral vectors as agents of vaccination or through the study of the response of the body to viral and nonviral gene transfer agents. Indeed, the vaccine research community has much in common with workers studying gene transfer, and the synergy between research of these groups has also been identified as an area of keen interest to Molecular Therapy. Finally, the past few years has also witnessed the completion of the human genome project and the continuation of the sequencing of a number of genomes of scientific and commercial interest. The application of gene transfer technology will be key to the functional screening of the thousands of genes uncovered by these projects, and this journal intends to be at the forefront of such research. Of course the quality of work published in the journal reflects the quality of science in the field of gene therapy. If the past is any guide, we should witness new and innovative technologies How can the next five years be anything but exciting? Onwards and upwards!