Editorial

Next-generation sequencing technologies continue to revolutionise the Life Science community. Hand-in-hand with these developments, high-throughput genomics and proteomics technologies are both becoming more common worldwide and are evolving at a rapid pace. Sequencing platform facilities are being established in research institutions in all continents, making these new techniques accessible to researchers in a broad range of fields.

The new techniques open up the possibility of completely new forms of collaboration, as scientists in all continents perceive and embrace the imperative to share expertise and resources. Articles in this issue of EMBnet.news bear witness to these new trends.

EMBNet itself is also evolving to reflect these opportunities, and is now a more international network than ever before, covering all continents. To really emphasise EMBnet´s commitment to include and support non-European nodes, the organisation’s latest AGM took place in Cancun, Mexico, the first time it has ever been held outside of Europe. A short AGM report is to be found in this issue, and a more extensive conference supplement is under preparation.

Year 2010 will be an exciting one, with new nodes from other continents joining, and new collaborative projects between nodes, with other networks (e.g., ISCB, SanBio) and with scientists worldwide.

A very exciting and perhaps natural consequence of EMBnet’s evolution is the announcement that its long-standing, successful publication, EMBnet.news, is soon to include a new peer-reviewed section. We encourage everyone involved with EMBnet and its communities to actively engage with this future, new-look journal, to build on its past success and tradition of being your journal, for you, about you, and providing a showcase for your work! Join us in this endeavour!