Editorial: The Journal of Molecular Recognition: Changing of the guard

Abstract

At the beginning of 2024, I took over from Marc van Regenmortel as the third Editor-in-Chief of JMR. The journal was established by Irwin Chaiken in 1988 with affiliation to the International Society for Molecular Recognition (ismr.org) and with a strong focus on methods to measure affinity. Presciently, and quite unusually, the journal was founded to focus on a phenomenon—molecular recognition—and it is a phenomenon that is central to biomolecular science. This has enabled the content of the journal to evolve over time as new techniques, ideas, and applications have emerged. In 1999, Marc van Regenmortel became Editor-in-Chief, introduced new types of articles, and broadened the scope of the journal. For example, the series of comprehensive critical reviews on methods, such as surface plasmon resonance, isothermal calorimetry, and molecular docking, were particularly well read. We, the editors and advisory board members, thank him for his vision, inspiration, dedication, and hard work in successfully steering the journal over the last 25 years. He leaves the journal on solid foundations, publishing on a broad range of molecular recognition topics. Marc sought to make the journal, not only THE place to publish high-quality research on molecular recognition but also a venue for discussion on concepts and controversial issues relating to molecular recognition. We will continue to pursue these aims. For this purpose, we are introducing an additional article category called “Perspective” for short articles with commentaries, discussions, or reviews on current topics. The first two Perspectives are on Marc's contributions to science and the scientific community^{1, 2} and highly recommended reading. We will also aim to nurture the broad community of molecular recognition researchers, for example, through awards at conferences and with the establishment of a new Early Career Advisory Board for the journal.

Now is an appropriate time for JMR to enter into its third epoch. The growing prominence of computational science and the dramatic advances in artificial intelligence are changing how research into molecular recognition is done. This is reflected in the appointment of a theoretical and computational scientist at the helm of JMR. Moreover, the panel of Associate Editors includes two theoreticians as well as other scientists who combine computation with their experimental work. We will be looking to see how artificial intelligence and data science complement our existent methodological toolbox to accelerate molecular recognition research and enable the discovery of new molecules, new binding mechanisms, and new conceptual insights. However, in all the excitement over the new possibilities that such approaches bring, it is important to ensure that computational and machine learning tools and techniques are applied rigorously and carefully, with experimental validation whenever possible. Moreover, we expect that AI will be a driver for advancing experimental techniques, for example, through laboratory robotics and nanoscale instruments, for studying molecular recognition phenomena. In this light, we encourage all potential authors to read our revised “Aims and Scope.” We anticipate exciting times for molecular recognition research and aim to engage with our authors and readership to reflect this in the Journal of Molecular Recognition!

Rebecca C. Wade: conceptualization and writing.

The author declares no conflicts of interest.