Understanding membrane traffic from molecular ensemble, energetics, and the cell biology of participant components

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2019 has left in its wake colossal devastation. While several countries continue to struggle with the second, third, and even the fourth waves of the pandemic and government agencies grapple with the difficult task of predicting how best to deal with emergent strains, vaccines have become available and are being deployed worldwide. This pandemic has only reinforced the redeeming quality of scientific research. Numerous research initiatives have culminated in providing knowledge on the viral genome, proteome, and protein structures that offer potentially druggable pathways for therapy. But a crucial ingredient to the success of the scientific endeavor has been the ability for communities of scientists to seamlessly disseminate data and thereby bring in fresh perspective. The sum total of all of these developments is that the world has witnessed a striking and unprecedent rapidity in scientific progress in tacking the pandemic. Its 2021 and we write this editorial with a sense of hope and promise of return to normal life. We would sincerely like to thank the commendable efforts of our contributing authors, who have come up with insightful reviews under circumstances that were anything but inspiring.