The critical role of inflammatory processes in health and disease has long been recognized, 1 yet the detailed molecular mechanisms and biological events that regulate the progression and resolution of inflammation remain of interest. A number of recent investigations have provided strong evidence that the resolution of inflammation is not a passive process, as believed earlier. 2À4 Instead, resolution is a biosynthetically active process, regulated by biochemical mediators and receptor-signaling pathways and driven by specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPM). In particular, following a number of findings by Serhan and his group, the authors and their collaborators introduced and systematically investigated a number of SPM derived from poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), including lipoxins, E-series resolvins, D-series resolvins, protectins/neuroprotectins, and, most recently, maresins. This review summarizes efforts on the resolvins and protectins with an emphasis on the corresponding biochemical pathways. Additional reviews covering different aspects of these anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving lipid mediators, 5 including immunology, 6, 7 pathology, 8 biochemistry, 9 pharmacology10 and chemistry, 11 are also available. 6À9, 12