A little over two centuries ago, pioneering physicistThomas Young—perhaps the first biophysicist— published his seminal work on the wave theory of light, overturningNewton’s ideasin the process.A century before Newton was born, a different breed of pioneer was setting foot on the beaches of south-western USA, asJuan Cabrilloclaimed what is now San Diego in California, for Spain.

Today, pioneering scientists at the interface of physics and biology meet at this city for the56^thAnnual Biophysical Society conference.Here, Thomas Young was celebrated as the inspiration for National Lecture recipientSteve Block, of Stanford University.Block gave an entertaining potted history of single molecule biophysics, from its early years using laser technology, through to the development of optical traps for manipulating individual molecules (demonstrated successfully by this game ofmicro-scale Tetris). Finally, he discussed thefuture of the field that will look to molecular probeswithin
molecules themselves.

BMC Biophysics—celebrating its first birthday following itsre-launchinto the BMC-series—is delighted to be part of this exciting future. The journal hosted a strong presence among its Editorial Board, including Section EditorSanford Leuba’s小组会议上纳米生物物理学。一些the biggest names in the field showcased their latest developments, including fellow Section EditorAlby Diaspro,single molecule biophysics pioneer Carlos Bustamante, and recentLiebniz prizewinner Joerg Wrachtrup (sadly absent, collecting the prize from German Chancellor Angela Merkel).

It was clear that the conference was acelebrationof the current strength and diversity of biophysical research worldwide. Notable presentations broached subjects as diverse as synchronised swimming in sperm, the immortalplanarian wormas a model organism for biophysical research, and novel developments in DNA-sensing utilisinggraphenenanoribbons.

Less esoteric offerings focused firmly on the application of biophysics to the study of human disease.Bob Austin from Princeton University elegantly demonstrated that metastatic cancer cells behave like apelotonof cyclists as they move along a cellular invasion front, and Louis De Felice gave a salutary warning on the dangers of new synthetic designer drugs like “bathsalts”, from a biophysical perspective.

BMC Biophysicsis a broad scope journal, incorporating allaspects of this diverse and fascinating field. We are especially keen to encourage researchers tosubmittheirnovel methodsfor consideration, and strongly encourage all areas of research that demonstrate a useful advance in the field. Having recently beenaccepted for Impact Factortracking by Thomson Reuters, we wouldencourage all biophysical researchers to get involved with the journal – we would be delighted to be a home for your latest research.

Almost 500 years since Cabrillo landed in San Diego, the city is still known for its naval presence, and “Top Gun” airbase at nearby Miramar. Thomas Young’s seminal paper on optics demonstrates that even the best of the best do not always have it easy. This groundbreaking work was once subject to what Steve Block calls “The best worst peer-review of all time” byHenry Broughamin the Edinburgh Review, who stated: “as an hypothesis (it) is a work of fancy, useless in science, and fit only for the amusement of a vacant hour”.

InBMC Biophysics, we are confident that—having assembled such a distinguished and expertEditorial Board—we can certainly offer you the best advice possible from the leading edge of biophysics.

Simon Harold

Executive Editor

BMC Biophysics