Founded in 2003, Chemistry & Biodiversity is published by Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta, a subsidiary of Wiley-VCH. The journal aims to cover "all research fields straddling the border between the chemical and biological sciences, with the ultimate goal of broadening our understanding of how nature works at a molecular level."

Did you expect Chemistry & Biodiversity to become highly cited, or is this surprising to you?

Frankly, we have been hoping for a fair and rewarding impact but saw the uncertainty of such an expectation. The surprise is not so much in the fact, per se, than in its rather early occurrence.

Would you give us a brief history of the journal?

Chemistry & Biodiversity (CB) was grown as a "spin-off" of the Helvetica Chimica Acta (HCA), a monthly journal covering all aspects of chemistry. HCA is a more than 90-year-old monthly periodical published by Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta, a publishing house originally owned by the Swiss Chemical Society and now a subsidiary of Wiley-VCH. Following a strong increase in the number of papers dedicated to natural product chemistry and biochemistry, Dr. Volkan Kisakürek (Editor-in-chief of HCA) and Prof. Bernard Testa developed the concept behind CB, as best summarized by its motto ("Chemistry Probing Nature"). The journal has now achieved its fifth year of publication.

How would you account for the high citation rate of Chemistry & Biodiversity? What historical factors have contributed to the success of Chemistry & Biodiversity? What, in your view, is this journal’s main significance or contribution in the field of Environment & Ecology?

In our view, the success and resulting impact of CB arise from a unique profile blending, a) multidisciplinarity, and, b) focus on nature at the molecular/macromolecular levels. For example, natural product chemistry is of great current interest, if only because of the treasures of chemical architecture and medicinal wonders that await discovery in microorganisms, plants, animals, and ecosystems.

But scientific quality is not the only criterion of publication in CB. Insisting on multidisciplinarity means, for example, a) reporting pharmacological or toxicological effects of novel natural products, b) assessing similarities and differences in the metabolism of foreign compounds (xenobiotics) in eukaryotes and prokaryotes, c) investigating the effect of environmental conditions on phenotype and chemotype diversity, and d) relating molecular and macroscopic responses of ecosystems to pollution challenges.

Have there been specific developments in the fields served by Chemistry & Biodiversity that may have contributed?

The impact of industrial pollution (involving, e.g., chemicals or radioactivity) on ecosystems and organisms therein may have been a contributing development. Another appears to be an ever-growing interest in natural products endowed with significant medicinal effects such as antitumor or immunomodulating activities.

How do you see your field(s) evolving in the next few years?

Environmental issues will increasingly be investigated simultaneously at the molecular and systems levels to gain robust integrated understanding. Evolutionary factors are all-important in how organisms and ecosystems react to challenges; their significance in environmental sciences can only grow. The impact of the co-evolution of organisms on their biochemistry should also attract more research.

What role do you see for your journal?

Ours is a journal focusing on multiple aspects of biodiversity. We shall seek to increase its contribution in the fields of computational biosimulations and evolutionary aspects. But above all, CB should establish itself as a front-line protector of biomolecular diversity against current perils.

Chemistry & Biodiversity
Dr. Volkan Kisakürek, Editor-in-Chief
Prof. Bernard Testa, Senior Editor
Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta, publishers

Keywords: natural product chemistry, biochemistry, biodiversity, multidisciplinary journal, environmental conditions, chemotype diversity, ecosystems, pollution, evolutionary factors.