We are pleased to bring to you a new thematic series published in Cell & Bioscience, Structure and mechanism of nanomotors in the cell. This series is expertly edited by Dr Peixuan Guo, Director of the Nanobiotechnology Center at the University of Kentucky, USA.

The article collection focuses on biomotors for DNA translocation. Nucleic acid translocases are ubiquitous biomotors involved in a variety of processes essential for living systems, i.e. cell mitosis, bacterial binary fission, genome replication, DNA repair, RNA transcription, homologous recombination, Holliday junction resolution, viral genome packaging and intracellular nucleic acid trafficking. Such biomotors were once classified into two categories: linear and rotation motors.

Recently, a third class of motor employing a revolution mechanism without rotation has been discovered. While the mechanism of translocation varies in each category, motion is always ATP-driven. This special issue aims to review the latest findings in structure, function, genetics, and biochemistry of nucleic acid translocation motors in bacteria, archaea, bacteriophages and eukaryotic cells.

We would like to thank Dr Guo for editing and organising this interesting collection of articles, and hope that you enjoy reading them.