The sequencing of the human and other genomes is only the beginning of the quest to understand the functionality of cells, tissues, and organs in health and disease. Together with progress in bioinformatics, this development has paved the way to the revolution in biology and medicine that we are experiencing today. We are steadily moving from the study of single molecules to the analysis of complex biological systems, and the current explosion in the number of technologies available within proteomics and functional genomics promises to have a major impact on the way diseases will be diagnosed, treated, and managed in the near future.
Clinical proteomics is a rapidly developing area of biomedical research that is emerging as one of the most likely research endeavors to foster the translation of basic knowledge into clinical applications. It readily embraces basic and clinical research and employs enabling technologies and resources from proteomics, functional genomics, and bioinformatics for the analysis of biological samples derived from patients—all in a well-defined clinical and pathological framework. However, clinical proteomics is still in its infancy, and as a result there is pressing need for creating a forum that will foster, nurture, and guide its development.
Responding to the challenge, and as a major stakeholder in the field of proteomics, the Editors of Molecular & Cellular Proteomics determined a year ago to commit the journal to supporting this promising and far-reaching discipline. The journal will publish articles, reviews/perspectives, and editorials in all areas of clinical proteomics, covering every step from discovery to application, as well as technological articles that have an impact on the research and translation processes. In reviewing these submissions, major emphasis will be given to clinical relevance, size of the study in terms of number of samples and/or patients, availability of normal controls, associated pathological data, and statistical significance, in addition to the usual criteria of technical excellence and novelty.
We are committed to handling manuscripts as fast as the peer review system allows, and to aid in achieving this goal we have appointed a Panel of Clinical Advisors to the Editorial Board and two additional editors with clinical as well as proteomic expertise. The Clinical Proteomics Advisory Committee will continue to assess developments in this field and to advise the editors regarding standards and criteria germane to the publication of articles dealing with this important aspect of proteomics.
Launching of this clinical proteomics initiative has met with great enthusiasm, and we very much hope that you will support it by submitting your new and exciting work in this area to the journal.
Footnotes
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- © 2003 The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
