Fifty years of cell biology

With the publication of this issue we celebrate 50 years of astonishing and enlightening cell biology in the pages of this journal. In January 1955 the Journal first appeared as the Journal of Biophysical and Biochemical Cytology; in 1962 the name changed to the Journal of Cell Biology, catalyzing the development of cell biology as a discipline, a function the JCB serves to this day. The JCB began thanks to the efforts of Keith Porter and George Palade, two of our field’s most important founders (Porter and Bennett, 1981). From its beginnings, it has relied on devoted service by members of the scientific community, who have given their all as its editors, contributors, reviewers, and readers. For 50 years, they have sent their best work to the Journal, and donated untold hours to make the JCB a true journal of record for the cell biology community, and a chronicle of a path forward in a scientific discipline. Amongst these individuals we must single out the late Norton (Bernie) Gilula, who served as the first Editor-in-Chief from 1983–1999. The process that Bernie nurtured, however, has truly been and remains a group effort—an undertaking that both builds and is sustained by the community of cell biologists. As a result, the work published in these pages has formed the very definition of cell biology. From 1955 to the present, the JCB has reported an extraordinary string of discoveries from all of the great names in