Sixty years has passed since the inaugural Science in China was published in 1950, and at the same time The Chinese Academy of Sciences was founded. Science in China, which is used to be the most important journal reporting Chinese science and technology achievements, is committed to publishing high-quality, original research results in both basic and applied researches. The advisory board of Science in China has been restructured and the editorial board has been renewed in 2008. Science in China sponsored by The Chinese Academy of Sciences and Progress in Natural Science sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China were merged in 2009 and the journal is renamed Science China.
The year 2009 marked a new beginning for Science China: Life Sciences. It has a dramatic improvement in many aspects: a newly formed international editorial board, individualized color cover for each issue, articles contributed by international authors, and so on. Throughout the year 2009, six issues of the journal published articles focusing on a special topic, covering: the genomics; microRNA ; epigenetics; avian influenza virus; stem cells . In adition, total of about 200 academic articles have been published. This review will make a retrospect of Science China : Life Sciences in 2009.