EDITOR'S NOTE.

The pace at which mutations are being found has become so rapid that the publication of up-to-date tabulations has become impossible using conventional means. For example, the last comprehensive publication of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase variants (reference 2 in the present paper) was submitted for publication on June 1994 and published in December of 1994. Since its publication 30 additional variants have been discovered and many that were unpublished in the earlier tabulation have now appeared in print. Since papers are published in this journal within less than two weeks of receipt, reprints are available in 2 weeks, and the printed version is on library shelves within an average of 3 months, it provides an ideal medium for publication in such a rapidly moving field. Updated registries of some mutations are beginning to appear on the internet, and eventually this may be the common means for providing access to mutations. In the meanwhile, the publication of up-to-date, authoritative lists of mutationsin Blood Cells, Molecules and Diseases can fill the need. The commentaries that we encourage and publish provide an opportunity for these tabulations to be updated and, where needed, corrected by the readers. These corrections will also appear on the internet and in the journal and become a part of the permanent record documenting the mutations covered. We encourage colleagues who are maintaining mutation databases to submit them to us for rapid publication. In this way we hope to provide those interested in the genetics of hematologic disease with a readily available and very up-to-date source of information concerning what mutations have been found and where more information can be obtained about them.

Reprint requests to: Ernest Beutler, M.D., The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, 10666 North Torrey Pines Road, SBR3, La Jolla, California 92037 USA, phone: (619) 554-8040, fax: (619) 554-6927, e-mail: beutler@scripps.edu.