Protein & Cell: a new scientific journal for the 21st century global life sciences community

It is my very great pleasure to announce the launch of Protein & Cell. Understanding the cell, the basic unit of life, is a complicated process but is the source for all the key answers pertaining to the life sciences. A sophisticated view of the nature and essence of life requires systematic studies of the whole cell and the cellular components, ranging from small molecules, nucleic acids and carbohydrates to proteins and macromolecular complexes. Starting from the universal genetic code, as simple as A, C, T and G, twenty standard amino acids are translated and thousands of proteins are assembled. Proteins function in concert with molecules both inside and outside cells. A single cell can represent the entirety of life in the case of bacteria, while differentiated cells form more complicated tissues and organisms. As implied by the title, Protein & Cell intends to promote greater understanding of the cell, the elementary unit of life, via structural and functional studies of its components. Over the last decade, the world has witnessed an astonishing progressive expansion in life sciences research, and is sharing the excitements of breakthroughs from scientists in every country. The exploration of biological and biomedical knowledge is propelled by government policies, accelerated by the development of modern technology, and facilitated by a large number of devoted scholars. With these extraordinary developments and the global integration in life sciences research, the need for publication has also powered the organic growth of both old and new academic journals. The goal of launching Protein & Cell is to meet the urgent demand for a major Asia-based journal that covers the very diverse fields that encompass life sciences and biomedical research. We will work with scientific and publishing colleagues worldwide, with Cell in the United States and The EMBO Journal in Europe as models, to establish Protein & Cell as a high quality, high visibility and high impact international journal. We should like to acknowledge all those who have worked tirelessly to help make Protein & Cell a reality by participating in the Editorial Board; by inviting writing, and reviewing manuscripts; by providing necessary support; and by offering valuable advice. Protein & Cell is ideally placed for international scientists to disseminate their discoveries to a wide audience and to discuss their science and topical issues. We call upon our colleagues worldwide to join us in support of Protein & Cell, and to help build it into an objective, advanced, open and successful journal.