The biological sciences have been transformed by
genomics over the past ten years, and the next decade will see a
similar revolution in medicine. The medical research community is
increasingly turning to the use of large-scale, high-throughput genomic
techniques to address clinical questions. By providing information on
the interaction between genes, drugs and diseases, genomic approaches
to medicine promise to contribute to the delivery of personalized and
individual medical treatment.

The realisation of the promise of medical genomics will depend on
access to three important things: technology, as highlighted by the
proposed US Genomics and Personalized Medicine Act; data, as exemplified by the NIH’s database of Genotype and Phenotype (dbGaP); and published, peer-reviewed research.

To
maximize the visibility and impact of this vital and growing field of
research, we are pleased to announce the launch of the latest addition
to the BMC series, BMC Medical Genomics. The journal is entirely open access – all articles will be immediately available to read online at no charge. BMC Medical Genomics
will publish original peer-reviewed research articles on functional
genomics, genome structure, genome-scale population genetics,
epigenomics, proteomics, systems analysis and pharmacogenomics in
relation to human health and disease. As well as research articles, we
aim to publish Commentary articles exploring new directions and
innovations in medical genomics.  We are keen for clinical and biomedical researchers to tell us what else you want and need from our new journal.

In a new step for the BMC-series, BMC Medical Genomics
is recruiting academic Associate Editors, who will manage the peer
review process in tandem with our in-house team of Assistant Editors,
and work with the international Editorial Board. If you would like to be involved in the journal as a reviewer, Editorial Board Member, or Associate Editor, please contact us. As with the other medical journals in
the BMC series, BMC Medical Genomics will use open peer
review; the names of the peer reviewers will be known to the authors
and the reports will be made public alongside the published article. 

BMC Medical Genomics intends to publish its first articles in January 2008. BMC Medical Genomics
(ISSN 1755-8794) will be indexed/tracked/covered by PubMed, BIOSIS,
CAS, Scopus, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. We are now accepting
submissions, and would like to invite you to submit using the online submission system.