Heredity is 50 years old. The journal was founded in 1947 by C.D. Darlington and R.A. Fisher, and originally owned by them. On 30 September 1970, Darlington made a gift of Heredity to the Genetical Society of Great Britain; at that time he briefly reviewed the history of the journal (see volume 25, page 691) and concluded “Its purpose will thus continue to be to advance Genetics and help those who pursue the study and use of Genetics in all parts of the world”.

The aims of Heredity and its traditional areas of strength have remained the same, although comparison with an issue of 25 years ago will show many changes: in style, reflecting changes of Publishers and a succession of editors, and in content, particularly in recent years as developments in molecular genetics and theory backed by computing power have opened up novel areas of investigation or offered new ways of addressing old questions.

We celebrate our half-century with the introduction of regular Short Reviews dealing with topical subjects of interest to the Heredity readership. Although these are normally commissioned by the editors, and are of course subject to our usual refereeing procedures, we welcome suggestions for topics from potential authors on the understanding that choice of subjects and authors is at the discretion of the editors. We hope that you will find the reviews timely, stimulating and useful.

The number of submitted manuscripts has increased by 25–30 per cent since the last increase in page extent. Together with the strengthened Book Reviews section and the new Short Reviews, this means that we will be publishing more pages this year. We plan to concentrate the extra pages in the early issues and are confident that Heredity will maintain its usually rapid turnover in papers.

We trust that during the next 50 years Heredity will continue to fulfil the vision of its founders.

The Editors