History and founding editor's perspectives of Cytometry.

Abstract

Cytometry, the journal of the International Society for Analytical Cytology (ISAC), had its genesis, like the ISAC, in the series of conferences on automatic cytology sponsored by the Engineering Foundation in the 1970s. The history of ISAC has been well documented by Phillip Dean in a previous article and in one appearing in this issue (1,2). My personal perspectives on Cytometry complement the histories of ISAC and the editorial I wrote in 1997 when I stepped down as editor (3). Automatic cytology started to evolve in the late 1960s as an interdisciplinary science exploiting advances in electronic, computer, and chemical technologies to enable rapid and quantitative analysis of large numbers of individual cells. Frequently, early research was driven by potential applications to problems in cancer diagnosis (the Pap smear), chromosome analysis (cytogenetics), and blood cell analysis (hematology) and to a wide range of problems in basic biology. This early work was reported at various national and international conferences, particularly those sponsored by the New York Academy of Sciences and the International Academy of Cytology. The series of Engineering Foundation Conferences (EFC) on automatic cytology first provided a coherent and ongoing forum where scientists and engineers from diverse disciplines could meet to exchange ideas. These conferences were initially small and by invitation only. They were organized according to the strict dictates of Dr. Sanford (Sandy) S. Cole, director of the EFC. Afternoons were always unscheduled to leave much time for informal interactions among the participants; likewise, presentations at the formal sessions had to allow ample time for discussion and interaction between the presenter and the audience. Open and free explorations of ideas were encouraged; for this reason, no record was made from the early conferences. But by the Third Automatic Cytology Conference, held at the Asilomar Conference Center, California, in December 1973, participants felt that they were generating so much energy and excitement that they wished to reach a wider audience, particularly their colleagues who were unable to attend the conference. Paul J. Anderson, editor of the Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry, invited me to be guest editor for a special edition devoted entirely to papers from the Third Conference (4). Most presenters submitted manuscripts that underwent peer review. The special issue contained 39 papers, many of which remain relevant today. Authors included many luminaries of the ISAC and the field: Sam Latt, Leon Wheeless, Mike Melamed, Frank Traganos, Lew Kamentsky, Mort Mendelsohn, Walter Sandritter, Mack Fulwyler, Harry Crissman, Tom and Donna Jovin, Joe Gray, Peter Bartels, George Weid, and Bas Ploem. This issue also was used to introduce the Technicon Hemalog D system, thereby setting a precedent in which our publications are used to introduce commercial systems and the innovative science and engineering that they embrace. Papers from the next three Automatic Cytology Conferences were published similarly in the Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry, with the support of Paul Anderson and with financial support from the Engineering Foundation; Bart Gledhill joined me as guest editor for these special issues in which all manuscripts underwent peer review (5–7). Each issue was larger than its predecessors and each seemed to have an increasing scientific impact. The last issue in this series (7) contained 104 articles from presentations at the first international conference held at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps in 1978. It was at this conference that steps were formalized to create our own society, the Society for Analytical Cytology (SAC), and our own journal, Cytometry. I was appointed the society’s editor and was charged with creating a journal and negotiating for a publisher. It was easy to develop the aim and scope of Cytometry, as these mirrored those of the society as defined in the (I)SAC statement of purpose (1). From the outset, Cytometry was designed to reflect the SAC and especially to provide a peer-reviewed record of presentations from the SAC conferences so that they could reach a much wider audience than just the conference attendees. The editorial board was selected for their scientific excellence and relevance, even though they were not necessarily members of the society. The aim was always to bring disciplinary and geographic diversity to the board and a commitment to the journal.