Following the special issue coordinated by Morales and Alonso, Successful Latin American initiatives in biophysics (Morales & del Valle Alonso, 2014), this is another action to promote the biophysics research that takes place in Latin America, with the focus on the IUPAB Congress in 2020 (http://www.sbbq.org.br/iupab2020, n.d.).

The Latin American Federation of Biophysical Societies (LAFeBS) and POSLATAM were founded in 2007 to encourage the development and dissemination of the biophysics area. Nowadays, the Federation involves Biophysical Societies and groups of researchers from the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Portugal, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela and Cuba (http://www.lafebs.org, n.d.).

The plan for this Special Issue catalyzed by Cris dos Remedios (Editor in Chief) started one year ago. Several researchers were invited from all the countries of Latin America to contribute. With satisfaction, we acknowledge all authors who kindly accepted our invitation to write a review in biophysical-related areas of expertise. With their valuable contributions (26 review papers in total), the main research areas are highlighted here and reflect the panorama of biophysics in Latin America. They comprise: Molecular Machinery; Protein–Nucleic Acid Interactions; Protein Structure to Function; Computational Biophysics; Experimental and Computational Approaches to Protein Design; Protein Misfolding; Membrane Permeation: Channels and Transporters; Biomimetic Structures and Systems (Nanobiophysics); Drug Discovery and Delivery; Protein Folding and Assembly; Applications in Biomedical and Materials Science; Membrane-Active Peptides; Physics of Cancer; and Photodynamic Therapy (Table 1 lists the content of the Special Issue), with reviews from Cuba (1), Venezuela (2), Uruguay (2), Argentina (6) and Brazil (15).

Table 1 of MS accepted in the SI
Full size table

In spite of intermittent resources which feed science in Latin America (Petherick, 2017), this Special Issue demonstrates the quality of the work developed in Latin America in the frontier of knowledge (https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en.html, n.d.). Furthermore, as biophysics permeates more than one area of expertise, with the appliance of different methodologies, the research is often carried out by multidisciplinary teams with strong international cooperation.

Therefore, the presence of Latin America’s leading scientists among the invited writers certainly contributes to creating a very rich environment, which we are certain allows for bringing together the best of science in biophysics in development in Latin America.

Enjoy reading!

Pietro and Rosangela.