An Annis Mirabilis for the Molecular Therapy Journal Family
Authors: Robert M. Frederickson, Roland W. Herzog
Journal: Molecular Therapy (2020)

2020 has been an inauspicious year on many fronts. From racial tensions and demonstrations, to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its politicization by certain parties, not to mention a very polarized state of political affairs in many parts, it has been a true annis horribilis. Despite this, 2020 has proven to be an annis mirabilis for the editorial performance of Molecular Therapy (MT) and its sibling journals. Manuscript submissions have risen remarkably, setting new records, and the impact factor (IF) of MT reached a hair under 9 for the first time. The yet relatively young MT sibling journals are showing ever higher growth, and the scientific quality of papers published by all members of our journal family is outstanding. 2021 promises to be a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel for the COVID pandemic and its damaging economic and social effects, and yet an even more remarkable year for the journal family. The IF of MT looks to hit 10 and those of the siblings appear likely to land within the 6–8 range, which is all the more impressive when you consider the IF of MT itself was within this range over most of the past decade. Building on this success, MT will continue to feature exciting advances in molecular, gene, and cell therapies during this new year. The journal will publish its first special issue on clinical gene therapy next month and a second such special issue on the topic of recent advances in gene editing technology later this year. The latter is particularly timely given that the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for their discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 system and pioneering work in the development of gene editing. It is this close interplay between basic and translational science, between discovery in the laboratory and treatment of human patients, that makes our field so exciting. Indeed, we feature on the cover of the journal this month not an image from one of our published papers, but an artistic representation of Moderna’s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, one of three candidate vaccines that, at the time of writing, appeared poised to be soon approved for expedited deployment. mRNA technology is one of the cutting-edge platforms that fall under the MT umbrella, and we are ecstatic to see this relatively new technology not only reach real world application, but to potentially have such a pleiotropic effect as the world recovers from the pandemic and its economic, social, and political manifestations. As in any other field, we also encounter problems during translation of treatment approaches that we seek to understand and solve. This past year, a joint special issue between MT and Molecular Therapy-Methods & Clinical Development covered immunological complications in gene and cell therapy. The upcoming issue on clinical gene therapy will feature both successes and hurdles in gene-based treatments of patients, particularly in difficult-to-treat diseases such as genetic disorders, which result in systemic or multi-organ deficiencies. Nonetheless, successful treatments and even cures for diseases that previously had no real treatment options has led to regulatory approval of multiple gene and cell therapies, ranging from small interfering RNA (siRNA) to viral vectors to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell and other therapeutics. A virtual version of the special issue will also include clinical development papers published in Molecular Therapy-Methods & Clinical Development. Constant innovation in the field will expand successful clinical gene therapy to more diseases and is already generating next-generation therapeutics, some of which are based on gene editing technologies. We expect the special issue on gene editing to again also comprise a virtual component that includes contributions from all of our journals, including Molecular Therapy-Nucleic Acids and Molecular Therapy-Oncolytics. Our editorial team is working closely to further enhance this collaboration between the journals, which represents a major strength of our journal family and an attractive feature for authors and helps build our community of scientists and physicians who work on gene and cell and related molecular therapies. While our rapid growth has strained our resources, the journal group was happy to add a new member, Betty Schiefelbein, in a new managing editor role and who has been indispensable in helping us navigate the difficult transition to a new manuscript tracking system and providing quick high-quality support to our growing pool of authors, editors, and reviewers across the journal family. Further additions to the team are planned as we strive to provide the highest quality service to our society members and the gene and cell therapy communities we are proud to serve worldwide. 2020 was “not a year we look back on with undiluted pleasure” to paraphrase Queen Elizabeth II following her own annis horribilis in 1992, but we certainly feel a bit more auspicious about the coming year.