Genome Biology, which has been proudly publishing some of the most exciting research from all areas of genomics for the past 10 years, celebrates its birthday this year. To mark this, we have commissioned aseries of reviewsfrom areas of particular interest in the genomics field and from scientists who have helped shape these fields over the last decade.

As such, this month’sissueofGenome Biologycontains more than the usual research highlights, reviews and cutting edge scientific research. This month you will also find an editorial from Editor Clare Garvey on ‘A decade and genome of change’, in which Clare discusses the humble beginnings ofGenome Biology. First published in 2000, the same year as the Human Genome Project and the Celera Genomics Corporation announced their completion of the first draft of the human genome,Genome Biologywas the first open access genomics journal. It is perhaps therefore quite appropriate that the ever-entertaining Greg Petsko, who has written a regular column forGenome Biologysince our very first issue, aptly titles his column this month ‘And they said it wouldn’t last…’.

The special collection of reviews that are published in the May issue ofGenome Biologyincludes perspective pieces from several of our Editorial Board Members and long-term supporters of the journal, includingSteven Salzbergfrom the University of Maryland, who writes on the issue of thetrue human gene count, andElaine Mardisfrom Washington University School of Medicine, who writes on the insights that can be gained fromcancer re-sequencing. This special collection also includes a review fromLincoln Steinwho is the Director of the Informatics and Biocomputing Platform at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. He discusses the use ofcloud computingfor analysing large-scale biological datasets and the contentious issue of data storage that face the genomics community.

We hope you will enjoy this special collection of articles we have put together to celebrateGenome Biology’s10th birthday. Thank you for supporting the journal for the past 10 years; we look forward to bringing you the best in genomics research for the next 10 years and beyond.