By Professor Kim E Barrett, Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Physiology
Vice Dean for Research and Distinguished Professor of Physiology and Membrane Biology at University of California, Davis School of Medicine, USA
2022 marks a special and exciting year for The Journal of Physiology, as we celebrate its 600th volume. This is a significant milestone for us as the oldest journal dedicated to publishing original physiological research.
Reaching such a milestone offers us an opportunity to reflect on the contribution of The Journal of Physiology to the field of physiology and beyond. However, it is also a time to look forward, and to celebrate the high-quality research that continues to be published in our world-class journal.
Ground-breaking discoveries
Since it was established in 1878, The Journal of Physiology has published many significant papers that have reported remarkable discoveries. The Journal has featured the works of 42 Nobel laureates, including the landmark papers of Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley.
The pair began collaborating in 1939 and together defined the mechanisms of the action potential. We can thank their work and the articles they published in The Journal for our understanding of the propagation of electrical signals in animal cells.
100 years ago, Nobel Laureates Frederick Banting and John MacLeod, along with Charles Best and Clark Noble, discovered insulin. Many of the first papers by this group characterising the structure of insulin and explaining its role in maintaining blood glucose levels were published in The Journal.
As a researcher of digestive disorders, my personal favourites are the articles published in The Journal of Physiology by William Bayliss and Ernest Henry Starling on the first-recognised hormone, secretin. Bayliss and Starling believed the digestive system was controlled by nerves. While investigating how digestion works, they identified that a substance called secretin was produced by the intestinal lining and acted as a chemical messenger that stimulated the pancreas.
It was Starling who coined the term hormone, and it is in these papers they outline the first discovery of a hormone involved in digestion. This work on hormones has been important for understanding a range of bodily processes and their regulatory systems.
A strong and vibrant future for The Journal
The Journal of Physiology has advanced our knowledge of physiology and increased our understanding of how the body functions in health and disease. After almost 150 years of publishing research, The Journal retains its relevance because physiology is just as important today as it ever was.
Over the course of the year we will be publishing Editorials and other items that celebrate the exceptional work of those who have gone before, and look forward to building upon their legacy in years to come.
Watch Professor Kim Barrett talk about the 600th volume of The Journal of Physiology