Dedicated to up-and-coming scientists at the chemical- and systems-biology interfaces this issue includes 19 full research papers and 7 communications as well as reviews. The issue highlights the work of these talented researchers and their teams and in so doing aims to capture newly emerging high-impact areas of research.

The impressive line-up of authors includes Jin Zhang, Pieter Dorrestein, Gavin MacBeath, Shu-ichi Nakano, Lara Mahal, Jason Gestwicki, Ben Davis, Silke Sperling, David Spring, Alison Hulme and many more. The research covered includes novel methods to visualize and manipulate protein function in cells, the development of chemical techniques to monitor specific protein post-translational modifications, new insights into metabolomics and many other areas.

The issue is introduced by Professor Tom Kodadek, Chair of the Molecular BioSystems Editorial Board.