In 1954, Prof. Maffo Vialli, a pioneer of histochemical studies in Italy, founded in Pavia the European Journal of Histochemistry, under the title "Rivista di Istochimica Normale e Patologica".
To celebrate the 70^th anniversary of our journal, this issue collects articles on the application of the histochemical approach for studying cell biology in animals and plants, and in diseased conditions, to show the wide and multifaceted areas of interest of our journal.