Editorial

Abstract

Microbial activities and products have been employed in the service of Humankind since the dawn of civilization. Though microbial biotechnologies broadened in range over time, a quantum quantitative and qualitative increase was heralded in by the gene technology revolution in the 1970s. Over the current and coming decades, a further quantum increase will be catalysed by a combination of an acceleration in accessing new microbial diversity, particularly through intensified exploration of our biosphere, (meta)genomics approaches, new developments in instrumentation and miniaturization (e.g. micro-fluidics), analytical procedures, and increasing development and application of systems and synthetic biology, on one hand, and driven by commercial, medical and societal demands for new and improved products and processes, on the other. The vast range of unexplored microbial diversity, and the pervasiveness of microbial activities influencing biosphere functioning and human endeavours and well-being, have recently precipitated a major research expansion in environmental microbiology. Despite this intensification of effort, more than 90% of microbial diversity still remains to be discovered. It is this new biodiversity that will become the treasure chest of new and improved biotechnological developments and applications in the sectors of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, energy, mining, materials, agriculture, food, environmental protection, etc. As exploration of new microbial diversity will reveal novel underlying catalytic reactions, metabolic activities and products, many of the applications resulting from these discoveries will be highly original and innovative. Such applications merit publication in high profile journals. Currently, there exists only one high impact journal, Nature Biotechnology, which explicitly includes microbial biotechnology research, but this journal covers all types of biotechnological research (microbial, plant, animal), and has a small page budget, so is only able to accept a small fraction of top research papers in microbial biotechnology. All other journals focusing on microbial biotechnology are currently of modest impact. This means that there is not only a paucity of options for placing top work in top journals, but also that the field of microbial biotechnology has no dedicated high profile vehicle that provides leadership in setting high benchmarks of quality and originality, effectively disseminates top research, and stimulates and promotes the field. Microbial Biotechnology has been created to publish papers of original research reporting significant advances in any aspect of microbial applications. In selecting and publishing the best original, innovative research and enabling advances that may lead to new applications, it aims to rapidly become the high profile flagship of microbial biotechnology. To achieve this, it has appointed a sterling Editorial Board, composed of leaders in the various sectors of the field and associated fields, and a core of experienced and dedicated Editors who, together, will apply rigorous reviewing and quality selection to assure the highest quality, originality and actuality of the published material. A key selection criterion is that material considered for publication belongs to the upper 25% of research in the field. Much research in cutting edge microbial biotechnology is multidisciplinary in nature and, with new advances and creative exploratory science, the topics and component disciplines range over an ever-increasing spectrum of the life and non-life sciences. Thus an important feature of Microbial Biotechnology will be the inclusiveness of its scope, which will widen in response to all developments that can lead to significant new applications involving microbes or their activities or products. For this reason, the specified scope of the Journal is only a guideline and will expand to incorporate new advances. As part of its aim to promote the field, Microbial Biotechnology will feature both primary research papers and (mini)reviews, editorials and correspondence, as well as regular features, like ‘Web Alert’ and ‘Genomics Update’. Particularly topical themes will be the focus of Special Issues. As part of its aim to provide a greater focus for, and understanding of, microbial biotechnology and its societal benefits, and to achieve wider dissemination of the work it publishes, Reviewers and Editors will flag up research articles of particular interest to the general public and these will be the subject of press releases. Microbial Biotechnology joins the extremely successful stable of microbiology journals of Wiley-Blackwell. It benefits from the support of the Society for Applied Microbiology, which is one of the oldest learned societies dedicated to the promotion of applied microbiology, and a major global promoter of microbial biotechnology, and from the exceptional publishing experience of Wiley-Blackwell and its highly professional Production Office. So: enjoy reading this first issue of Microbial Biotechnology, anticipate the issues to come (free access for 2008!), and start to prepare your best material for submission for publication in a future issue!