Yesterday marked the launch of Cilia, an exciting new journal led by Editors-in-Chief Peter Jackson and Philip Beales.

In their launch editorial, the Editors discuss the history of this important organelle and a number of key developments in the rapidly moving field of cilia research. Cilia welcomes basic and translational research into the biology of cilia and diseases associated with  ciliary dysfunction. Topics of interest include a wide range of areas from human genetics to ciliatherapeutics.

The first articles to be published in Cilia highlight the breadth of applications into cilia research, from the genetic and  cellular level up to the disease level. Krammer et al. investigate the underlying genetics of Usher syndrome, a common ciliopathy, and how the proteins affected function in cilia formation, maintenance and function. Hsiao and Ferland review  the involvement of polarized vesicular trafficking in cilia formation and function, and subsequent abnormalities observed in ciliopathies. Using in vivo imaging of primary cilia in mouse tissues Ott et al. find that mammalian primary cilia are able to establish long-lasting connections with cilia on neighboring cells, research discussed in an accompanying commentary from Peter Jackson.

It is the Editors’ hope that Cilia will become an invaluable resource not only for those working directly in cilia research, but also to the wider scientific community and anyone with an interest in ciliopathies.The journal is expected to evolve to  meet the changing demands of an advancing field, and is thus well placed as an online, and open access title.   For further information on Cilia, please visit the journal website or contact the journal editorial office.