GENETICS is pleased to announce the addition of a new section of the journal: Perspectives and Reviews. The section represents an exciting new era for the journal’s “front matter” program, designed to provide the genetics and genomics community with in-depth, scholarly articles that enhance scientific exploration and discovery.

“GENETICS has long been a home for important conversations relevant to the field. Our goal is to build on the legacy established in large part by William Dove and James F. Crow with the launch of Perspectives almost four decades ago,” says Editor in Chief Howard Lipshitz.

Reviews are in-depth explorations of the current literature on a topic while, previously, Perspectives focused on critical examinations of the history of genetics. 

“By expanding the purview of Perspectives to include scholarly articles on current topics of broad interest to the community and by investing increased attention to the Reviews we commission and publish, I hope that GENETICS will become the home for these conversations. I am confident that the vibrant and enthusiastic team, led by Senior Editors Brandon Ogbunu and Julie Claycomb, will achieve these goals,” says Lipshitz.

Julie and Brandon will oversee a team of Associate Editors within the section, and together, they’ll work to identify topics of interest and appropriate experts from whom to invite submissions. They will also oversee the peer-review process for these articles.

Browse decades of Perspectives and Reviews on the GENETICS website, and read on to meet the new section editors.

Senior Editors

Julie Claycomb is a Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto. Julie’s background is in model organism genetics, gene regulation, RNA biology, and genomics. Her research program focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of small RNA mediated gene regulation using the genetic powerhouse C. elegans as a model system. Julie values building and contributing to research communities and served as an Associate Editor in the Gene Regulation section of GENETICS from 2021 until now.

“The evolution of Front Matter into Perspectives and Reviews provides a fresh opportunity to showcase diverse topics, viewpoints, and researchers in what has become the broad field of genetics. I’m particularly excited to highlight topics that explore the intersection between different facets of the field, including epigenetics and genomics. I look forward to engaging with our wonderful research community in this role and hope to spur new conversations through the material we publish in Perspectives and Reviews.”

C. Brandon Ogbunu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University and an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. He is a computational biologist whose research investigates complex problems in population genetics, evolution, and epidemiology. In addition, he runs a parallel research program at the intersection of science, society, and culture. In this capacity, he examines the bi-directional relationship between social forces and the cultural process of science. 

“Now is the time to amplify a diversity of scholarly products that can illuminate the unseen corners within the greater subfields of genetics. I’m looking forward to stewarding this sort of work within the pages of Perspectives and Reviews.”

Associate Editors

Allison Bardin is a Research Director of the CNRS and Senior Group Leader at the Curie Institute in Paris, France. Her group combines genetics, genomics, and cell biological approaches to elucidate cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic processes controlling stem cell fate and genome stability using both the adult Drosophila intestine and developing imaginal tissue.

Melissa Harrison is a Professor in the Department of Biomolecular Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. Research in the Harrison lab leverages the numerous tools available in D. melanogaster to investigate how transcription factors access the genome to initiate gene expression programs that direct development and how changes in gene expression drive cell identity.

Pleuni Pennings is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at San Francisco State University. As an evolutionary biologist, her research focuses on the evolution of drug resistance in HIV, attempting to understand what determines the rate of evolution of resistance to find ways to halt it. She is also heavily involved in programs to help students in the life sciences learn computer programming and coding skills.

Rori Rohlfs is an Associate Professor of Data Science at the University of Oregon. Her lab studies how genetic variation and subsequent molecular mechanisms contribute to diversity within and between species, as well as the social impacts of technologies based on genetic variation. This manifests as three lines of research: 1) investigating the reliability and impact of forensic genetic technologies, 2) applying statistical models to study the evolution of genome regulation, and 3) clarifying how systems of oppression influence science and attempting to improve social justice within science.