It was the days before the two competing groups of researchers published the first draft of the human genome (released in February, 2001), and Don Kennedy was stressed out. As editor of Science, he was trying to get both groups to publish simultaneously, and in his journal. In the end, he got his first wish, but not his second.

"I told somebody that if we had succeeded in that venture it would have made an issue of Science bigger than the Christmas issue of Vogue," he recalled recently. "In the end, it may be just as well that we got one and Nature got the other."

Now, Kennedy is in the final days of his position at Science (Bruce Alberts takes over March 1), and he spoke with me about his fondest memories of the experience - and those that were less fond (think getting up in California, where he is based, to call into Washington DC meetings scheduled for 9:30 AM).

The stress over the human genome papers was difficult, but that's part of what made the experience valuable, he noted. "I think some of the memories which were difficult were ones in which I felt I had more support and thoughtful help and had more gratitude for," he said.

Another "fairly dramatic problem" that ultimately proved rewarding for Kennedy was the journal's retraction of data from South Korean researcher Woo-Suk Hwang and his colleagues, who admitted to fabricating proof-of-principle research in human embryonic stem cells. "We had to do a lot of self analysis and explanation about that, and I think we've wound up as a result of the experience in a better place than we would have been without it," he said.

Of course, much of his time was spent answering angry authors - a lot of time, given that the journal receives 12,000 submissions per year and rejects all but about 8%. "There were a fair number of [complaints], but not dramatically more than I expected."

Kennedy chalks up much of this angst to more than just rejection letters from Science - the research community is dealing with a host of adverse conditions, he said, most notably a lack of NIH funding, causing rejections of some very good projects. "It's an unhappy moment in history for all kinds of reasons."

But for Kennedy, right now things are looking pretty good. Being at Science "has been terrific."

Click here to listen to my interview with Kennedy. You can also listen here to Bruce Alberts talk about what he expects from the position.