DRUG DISCOVERY TODAY DISEASE MODELS EDITORIAL The central nervous system Gabriel A. Silva 1,2 1 Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, UCSD Jacobs Retina Center, 9415 Campus Point Drive, La Jolla, CA 93037-0946, USA. 2 Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Diego, UCSD Jacobs Retina Center, 9415 Campus Point Drive, La Jolla, CA 93037-0946, USA. Email: gsilva@ucsd.edu The physiology and pathophysiology of the central nervous system (CNS), which is made up of the brain, spinal cord and neural retina (which is an extension of the brain), collectively present some of the most challenging and complex questions in biology. This complexity is the result of several considera- tions, some of which are intrinsic to the structure and phy- siology of the CNS, including the tremendous cellular and molecular heterogeneity of neurons and glia, and some are because of technical and experimental limitations associated with our ability to perturb and detect resultant changes in experimental models of CNS function. Nowhere in the body is the need for appropriate models of physiology and disease mechanisms greater than in the CNS if we are to develop novel therapeutic strategies aimed at repairing it and restor- ing neurological function. Despite the magnitude of these challenges these are very exciting times in neuroscience, with a renaissance of new methods and technologies that are resulting in what can be argued is a paradigm shifting surge of knowledge and understanding of the nervous system in health and disease. Several key themes are emerging that are allowing this to happen, several of which are highlighted in this issue. These include novel animal models of CNS injury with direct relevance to human disease that provide the opportunity to translate therapeutic strategies from the lab to the clinic, a growing understanding of the role and con- tribution of glial cells to the physiology of the nervous system, in particular because it relates to their intimate interactions with neurons and their roles in inflammation and disease, novel cutting edge genetic and nanotechnology methods that provide truly remarkable ways to interact and interface with the nervous system, and modeling and com- putational approaches that provide a deep understanding of molecular, cellular and system processes and dynamics that often take direct advantage of novel experimental methods that provide new data not previously attainable. The collection of papers in this special issue of Drug Discovery Today: Disease Models provides current examples of the above themes by noted experts in each area. They review the current state of the literature and fields and provide detailed examples of each topic taken from the authors’ own work. Robins and Fehlings begin the section with their paper entitled ‘Models of experimental spinal cord injury: translational relevance and impact’. Spinal cord injury Drug Discovery Today: Disease Models Vol. 5, No. 1 2008 Editors-in-Chief Jan Tornell – AstraZeneca, Sweden Andrew McCulloch – University of California, SanDiego, USA Nervous system Box 1. Section Editor Gabriel A. Silva is an assistant professor in the Departments of Bioengineering and Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Diego. He is also an affiliated faculty member in the Department of NanoEngineering, and a member of the Neurosciences Graduate Program and the Institute of Engineering in Medicine. Dr Silva received an Hon.B.Sc. in human physiology and a B.Sc. in biophysics from the University of Toronto, Canada in 1996, followed by an M.Sc. in neuroscience also at the University of Toronto in 1997. He then received his Ph.D. in bioengineering and neuroscience at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2001, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in the Institute for BioNanotechnology and Medicine and the Department of Neurology at Northwestern University in Chicago from 2001 to 2003. He joined the faculty at UCSD in 2004. His work involves the development of nanotechnology and compu- tational approaches for studying cell and network signaling in central nervous system cells and circuits. 1740-6757/$ ß 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.ddmod.2008.10.001 1