Who would have thought that amidst the new year revelries last December, in Wuhan China, a different kind of explosion surfaced, which we now know as COVID-19. A month later, on 30 January 2020, the outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. As history unfolds, we find ourselves each day seeking new information to cope with this pandemic. There are several lessons to take from this crisis, and they are the same insights from of old:

..that human health is priceless, and each day is a gift
and a blessing,
..that our health and that of our planet are inseparable,
..that a global threat needs a global response,
..that there is wisdom in the adage ‘Prevention is
better than Cure’,
..that we all have a role to play in the battle of our
lifetime, and
..that there is a need to unite through science to win
this war.
In this issue we bring you relevant science on challenges which came way before COVID-19.