BMC Biology was launched as the flagship journal of BioMed Central in 2003, and we cannot leave a ten-year anniversary unmarked. But suspecting a reluctance to dwell on history, in this age when it is enough trouble to keep up with the breakneck present, we have in this collection of anniversary articles looked resolutely forward, and invited the authors of some of our most highly cited articles to produce updates on progress since they were published, and our Editorial Board members to contribute the open questions they would like to see answered in their fields. Even Patrick Brown, who spoke to us about the origins of open access, had his eyes so firmly fixed on the far horizon ten years ago that his vision remains in the future; and Peter Walter, with whom we did indulge in a little history in his interview on the origins of re-review opt-out, addresses an issue that remains perennial.
