First Scientific Articles in Volume 1, Issue 1 of Clinical Laboratory Journals

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The first scientific articles in the first issues of clinical laboratory journals are of particular interest because of what their topics may tell us of the founding of the journals (Table 1). We may never know the criteria for determining which scientific paper in an issue was chosen to be the first. It may have been because of a timely and compelling topic, because of the date the manuscript was received, because of the date it was accepted, or simply because it had completed the production process and was ready for inclusion in the first issue. Clinical laboratory journals volume 1, issue 1. Anon. Prospectus (vii–xii) Chapman N. The nourishment of the foetus (1–17) Dwight T. Cases of unilateral kidney, true and false (1) Jackson DE. A new method for the production of general analgesia and anaesthesia with a description of the apparatus used (1–12) Wolbach SB, Howe PR. Intercellular substances in experimental scorbutus (1–24) Black JH. The biology of the clinical pathologist (1) Anon. Editorial (1) Bedson SP. The laboratory diagnosis of virus infections of man: a review (2–9) Editorial preface (1) Sveinsson SL, Rimington C, Barnes HD. Complete porphyrin analysis of pathological urines (2–11) Anon. A new journal (1) Reinhold JG. Chemical abnormalities in blood serum associated with the carrier state of viral hepatitis (3–17) Introduction (1) Andreani DV, Gray CH. Serum polysaccharides in diabetes mellitus (7–15) Stewart CP. Introduction (2) Komrower GM. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (3–4) Brugsch J, Schutte E. Zum Geleit (1) Murphy WP. The history of liver treatment of pernicious anemia (2–13) Anon. Editorial (1) Neale FC, Ramsay D. Automation in clinical biochemistry (film) Campbell DJ. Editorial (1) Campbell DJ, Owen JA. Clinical laboratory error in perspective (3–11) Kolvoord RA. Inside Building No. 37—Lunar Receiving Laboratory probes space adventurers with biomedical tests (14–19) Murayama M. The chemical and the three-dimensional structure of human hemoglobin (1–9) Dennis PM, Fraser CG, Farrance I, White GH, Arblaster MJ. Editorial (3) Farrance I. Approaches to the study of comparative methodology (4–9) Young DS. President’s message (1) Wagener C, Greiling H. Position paper on the role of molecular biology techniques in clinical chemistry part 1: techniques in molecular biology part 2: diagnostic applications (10–19) Fausto N, Kaul KL. Presenting the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics (1) Byers PH. Molecular genetic pathology: coming of age in the molecular world (3–4) Christenson RH. Measurements matter (1–4) Nichols JH. Benefits of developing an individualized quality control plan (5–8) Anon. Prospectus (vii–xii) Chapman N. The nourishment of the foetus (1–17) Dwight T. Cases of unilateral kidney, true and false (1) Jackson DE. A new method for the production of general analgesia and anaesthesia with a description of the apparatus used (1–12) Wolbach SB, Howe PR. Intercellular substances in experimental scorbutus (1–24) Black JH. The biology of the clinical pathologist (1) Anon. Editorial (1) Bedson SP. The laboratory diagnosis of virus infections of man: a review (2–9) Editorial preface (1) Sveinsson SL, Rimington C, Barnes HD. Complete porphyrin analysis of pathological urines (2–11) Anon. A new journal (1) Reinhold JG. Chemical abnormalities in blood serum associated with the carrier state of viral hepatitis (3–17) Introduction (1) Andreani DV, Gray CH. Serum polysaccharides in diabetes mellitus (7–15) Stewart CP. Introduction (2) Komrower GM. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (3–4) Brugsch J, Schutte E. Zum Geleit (1) Murphy WP. The history of liver treatment of pernicious anemia (2–13) Anon. Editorial (1) Neale FC, Ramsay D. Automation in clinical biochemistry (film) Campbell DJ. Editorial (1) Campbell DJ, Owen JA. Clinical laboratory error in perspective (3–11) Kolvoord RA. Inside Building No. 37—Lunar Receiving Laboratory probes space adventurers with biomedical tests (14–19) Murayama M. The chemical and the three-dimensional structure of human hemoglobin (1–9) Dennis PM, Fraser CG, Farrance I, White GH, Arblaster MJ. Editorial (3) Farrance I. Approaches to the study of comparative methodology (4–9) Young DS. President’s message (1) Wagener C, Greiling H. Position paper on the role of molecular biology techniques in clinical chemistry part 1: techniques in molecular biology part 2: diagnostic applications (10–19) Fausto N, Kaul KL. Presenting the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics (1) Byers PH. Molecular genetic pathology: coming of age in the molecular world (3–4) Christenson RH. Measurements matter (1–4) Nichols JH. Benefits of developing an individualized quality control plan (5–8) Clinical laboratory journals volume 1, issue 1. Anon. Prospectus (vii–xii) Chapman N. The nourishment of the foetus (1–17) Dwight T. Cases of unilateral kidney, true and false (1) Jackson DE. A new method for the production of general analgesia and anaesthesia with a description of the apparatus used (1–12) Wolbach SB, Howe PR. Intercellular substances in experimental scorbutus (1–24) Black JH. The biology of the clinical pathologist (1) Anon. Editorial (1) Bedson SP. The laboratory diagnosis of virus infections of man: a review (2–9) Editorial preface (1) Sveinsson SL, Rimington C, Barnes HD. Complete porphyrin analysis of pathological urines (2–11) Anon. A new journal (1) Reinhold JG. Chemical abnormalities in blood serum associated with the carrier state of viral hepatitis (3–17) Introduction (1) Andreani DV, Gray CH. Serum polysaccharides in diabetes mellitus (7–15) Stewart CP. Introduction (2) Komrower GM. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (3–4) Brugsch J, Schutte E. Zum Geleit (1) Murphy WP. The history of liver treatment of pernicious anemia (2–13) Anon. Editorial (1) Neale FC, Ramsay D. Automation in clinical biochemistry (film) Campbell DJ. Editorial (1) Campbell DJ, Owen JA. Clinical laboratory error in perspective (3–11) Kolvoord RA. Inside Building No. 37—Lunar Receiving Laboratory probes space adventurers with biomedical tests (14–19) Murayama M. The chemical and the three-dimensional structure of human hemoglobin (1–9) Dennis PM, Fraser CG, Farrance I, White GH, Arblaster MJ. Editorial (3) Farrance I. Approaches to the study of comparative methodology (4–9) Young DS. President’s message (1) Wagener C, Greiling H. Position paper on the role of molecular biology techniques in clinical chemistry part 1: techniques in molecular biology part 2: diagnostic applications (10–19) Fausto N, Kaul KL. Presenting the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics (1) Byers PH. Molecular genetic pathology: coming of age in the molecular world (3–4) Christenson RH. Measurements matter (1–4) Nichols JH. Benefits of developing an individualized quality control plan (5–8) Anon. Prospectus (vii–xii) Chapman N. The nourishment of the foetus (1–17) Dwight T. Cases of unilateral kidney, true and false (1) Jackson DE. A new method for the production of general analgesia and anaesthesia with a description of the apparatus used (1–12) Wolbach SB, Howe PR. Intercellular substances in experimental scorbutus (1–24) Black JH. The biology of the clinical pathologist (1) Anon. Editorial (1) Bedson SP. The laboratory diagnosis of virus infections of man: a review (2–9) Editorial preface (1) Sveinsson SL, Rimington C, Barnes HD. Complete porphyrin analysis of pathological urines (2–11) Anon. A new journal (1) Reinhold JG. Chemical abnormalities in blood serum associated with the carrier state of viral hepatitis (3–17) Introduction (1) Andreani DV, Gray CH. Serum polysaccharides in diabetes mellitus (7–15) Stewart CP. Introduction (2) Komrower GM. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (3–4) Brugsch J, Schutte E. Zum Geleit (1) Murphy WP. The history of liver treatment of pernicious anemia (2–13) Anon. Editorial (1) Neale FC, Ramsay D. Automation in clinical biochemistry (film) Campbell DJ. Editorial (1) Campbell DJ, Owen JA. Clinical laboratory error in perspective (3–11) Kolvoord RA. Inside Building No. 37—Lunar Receiving Laboratory probes space adventurers with biomedical tests (14–19) Murayama M. The chemical and the three-dimensional structure of human hemoglobin (1–9) Dennis PM, Fraser CG, Farrance I, White GH, Arblaster MJ. Editorial (3) Farrance I. Approaches to the study of comparative methodology (4–9) Young DS. President’s message (1) Wagener C, Greiling H. Position paper on the role of molecular biology techniques in clinical chemistry part 1: techniques in molecular biology part 2: diagnostic applications (10–19) Fausto N, Kaul KL. Presenting the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics (1) Byers PH. Molecular genetic pathology: coming of age in the molecular world (3–4) Christenson RH. Measurements matter (1–4) Nichols JH. Benefits of developing an individualized quality control plan (5–8) For example, the first scientific article in the first issue of Journal of Clinical Pathology, published in 1947, was a review of laboratory diagnosis of virus infections by Sir Samuel Bedson from London Hospital and Medical School (1). From a current perspective, the methods described for identifying the causative influenza virus (A or B) in an outbreak are interesting when contrasted with modern methods. One method described in the review involved the injection of nasopharyngeal washings into the amniotic sac of 13-day-old eggs; this is in sharp contrast with rapid modern-day tests that directly detect flu virus proteins or nucleic acids. Regarding Clinical Chemistry, the first editor had 4 choices available when organizing the contents of the first issue of volume 1: there were 2 papers on lipoproteins, 1 on fatty acids, and a review on “studies made for the purpose of identifying carriers of viral hepatitis among blood donors.” It was the review of viral hepatitis by John G. Reinhold that secured the pole position in the first issue (2). This was perhaps not surprising. It is a common practice to begin issues with review articles, and this particular review was based on the Third Ernst Bischoff Award Lecture given by Reinhold (third president of the AACC) at the annual meeting of the AACC in New York in 1954. The Ernst Bischoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Chemistry (later renamed the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine) was sponsored by the Ames Company of Elkhart, Indiana. The award comprised a scroll, a bronze medal, and an honorarium of $500 (equivalent to about $5000 in 2020). Looking at Reinhold’s paper from a 2020 viewpoint, the hand-drawn figures have a certain charm in our age of readily accessible computer-based graphics. In addition, the tests he investigated for identifying carriers of viral hepatitis in blood donors included thymol turbidity and flocculation and cephalin cholesterol flocculation tests; these are a far cry from today’s high-sensitivity automated serological and nucleic acid tests. In 1989, the Journal of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry chose an important position paper as the first scientific article in its first issue. In this paper, Christoph Wagener and Helmut Greiling explored the role of molecular biology techniques in clinical chemistry (3). The authors envisaged a role for the clinical chemistry laboratory in implementing emerging molecular biology techniques, and they made recommendations about the provision of funds and training programs for the implementation of this new type of testing. Subsequently, molecular testing has evolved in a number of directions, including a new subspecialty (molecular diagnostics/pathology), with the incorporation of this type of technology into other clinical pathology subspecialties, such as microbiology, hematology, and blood banking—but less so into clinical chemistry laboratories. As a final journal to examine, the first issue of the Proceedings of the Australian Association of Clinical Biochemists had a unique scientific article that reported on the content of a film (a movie review!) (4,). This film was screened at the first annual general meeting of the association. It was a great hit (5), and it showed how an AutoAnalyzer could provide a unified automated analytical system and replace manual operations in a conventional laboratory. The 200-year perspective of the 18 clinical laboratory journals documented in Table 1 reveals some patterns in the topics of papers chosen to be the first scientific article in the first issue of a new journal. Generally, in the early journals, laboratory medicine took a back seat and the first published paper was medically themed; however, this was no longer the case with the arrival of clinical laboratory–focused journals in the early 1900s. Subsequently, topic selection in these journals reflected emerging technologies (e.g., automation, molecular diagnostics), laboratory issues of the time (e.g., infectious disease testing, laboratory error), or historic “one small step for man” moments (e.g., testing of Apollo 11 astronauts) (6). All authors confirmed they have contributed to the intellectual content of this paper and have met the following 4 requirements: (a) significant contributions to the conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (b) drafting or revising the article for intellectual content; (c) final approval of the published article; and (d) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the article thus ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the article are appropriately investigated and resolved. Upon manuscript submission, all authors completed the author disclosure form. Disclosures and/or potential conflicts of interest: J.Y. Park, Clinical Chemistry, AACC. None declared. None declared. None declared. None declared. None declared. None declared.