Microbial Cell (MIC) emerges as a peer-reviewed publishing platform for high-impact research that uses unicellular organisms (and multicellular microorganisms) to understand cellular responses to internal and external stimuli and/or human diseases. MIC publishes articles of extraordinary novelty and significance, including research papers and reviews that cover heterogenous topics in the field of microbial and general cell biology and signaling. MIC is an open access online journal that thus allows its readership and general public around the world to read, download, store, distribute or print any article free of charge. At the same time, our open access policy ensures fast publication as well as high visibility and broad divulgement of the author’s published research. By pursuing an open access approach and the universal accessibility to scientific knowledge, we support the return to one of the essential values of science: the free exchange of ideas.