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COVID-19 outbreak can impose serious negative impacts on the infrastructures of societies including the healthcare systems. Despite the increasing research efforts, false positive or negative results that may be associated with serologic or even RT-PCR tests, inappropriate or variable immune response, and high rates of mutations in coronavirus may negatively affect virus detection process and effectiveness of the vaccines or drugs in development. Nanotechnology-based research attempts via developing state-of-the-art techniques such as nanomechatronics ones and advanced materials including the sensors for detecting the pathogen loads at very low concentrations or site-specific delivery of therapeutics, and real-time protections against the pandemic outbreaks by nanorobots can provide outstanding biomedical breakthroughs. Considering the unique characteristics of pathogens particularly the newly-emerged ones and avoiding the exaggerated optimism or simplistic views on the prophylactic and therapeutic approaches including the one-size-fits-all ones or presenting multiple medications that may be associated with synergistic toxicities rather than enhanced efficiencies might pave the way towards the development of more appropriate treatment strategies with reduced safety concerns. This paper highlights the significance of nanoplatforms against the viral disorders and their capabilities of genome editing that may facilitate taking more appropriate measures against SARS-CoV-2., Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image

Following the initial description of endothelium-dependent vasoconstriction in the early 1980s, it has been exactly 25 years since efforts to identify the sequence of the endothelin gene and peptide began in May 1987, work which resulted in a landmark paper submitted to Nature in December 1987 and published on March 31, 1988. The paper opened an entirely new field of research, followed by the inception of the International Conferences of Endothelin, the first of which was organized by Sir John Vane as Chair and held as the “First William Harvey Workshop on Endothelin” in London, UK, in December of 1988. Endothelin receptor antagonism has now been firmly established for more than a decade as a new, orally active drug treatment for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Since the discovery of endothelin, on average 1,000 papers per year have been published with more than 25,000 papers available today, many of them published in the conferences' Proceedings. The present issue of Life Sciences, Endothelin XII, represents a collection of papers of original research and invited lectures presented at the Twelfth International Conference on Endothelin held in Cambridge, UK, in September 2011.