Introducing our new Editor-in-Chief

Since BiO launched in 2011, we have grown under the guidance and leadership of Founding Editor-in-Chief, Jordan Raff, University of Oxford, UK. In his farewell Editorial, Jordan revisits the predictions he made when BiO launched on the directions that biomedical publishing and Open Access might take, and reflects on the work still to be done.

As Jordan steps down, BiO is proud to introduce Steven Kelly, University of Oxford, UK, as our new Editor-in-Chief. In his inaugural Editorial, Steven shares with us his views on current trends across publishing and looks at the scientific publishing landscape of the future, highlighting how BiO is leading the way.

Cover article – Seasonally dependent relationship between insect herbivores and host plant density in Jatropha nana, a tropical perennial herb

Our latest cover shows instars of the jewel bug Chrysocoris purpureus feeding on the fruits of Jatropha nana. Insect herbivores depend directly on the density of their host plants and the nature of this relationship varies across time and space. A new Research Article examines this relationship across time using a tropical perennial herb, Jatropha nana, as a system. Find out more about the story behind the paper in our First person interview with author Ashish Nerlekar.

First Person interviews

Have you seen our interviews with the early-career first authors of our papers? Recently, we caught up with first authors Arthur Molines, Pascal Malkemper, Ashish Nerlekar and Catherine Green Galbraith.

Why should you publish your next paper in BiO?

Biology Open has strong credentials and publishing with us is easy and fast. BiO aims to provide rapid publication for scientifically sound observations and valid conclusions in developmental, cell, experimental and translational biology. Submit your paper here; you’ll be in good company.

Recent developmental biology research highlights in BiO – a new Methods & Techniques article from Seth Donoughe, Chiyoung Kim and Cassandra G. Extavour describes a customizable device for mounting and live-imaging of embryo samples across a wide range of tissues and species.

Transfer to Biology Open

If your submission to one of our other journals, Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology or Disease Models & Mechanism, is unsuccessful, did you know you can transfer your paper and any reviews directly to Biology Open? The majority of papers transferred with reviews are accepted for publication. Find out how here.

preLights – A transmissible RNA pathway in honey bees

Nicola Stevenson highlights a recent preprint from Sharoni Shafir and colleagues showing that bees horizontally transmit ingested biologically active RNA to peers and future generations by secreting it into worker and royal jellies in a remarkable process of social immunity and signalling.