Structural Snapshots are new to The FEBS Journal. For this series of invited contributions, leaders in the field of structural biology are requested to provide a succinct discussion of a particular structure recently published by their laboratory. The Features Editor, Alex Wlodawer, introduces the series. In this issue of The FEBS Journal, we are introducing a new category of short article, named Structural Snapshots. For this series of invited contributions, leaders in the field of structural biology are requested to provide a succinct discussion of a particular structure recently published by their laboratory. The structures chosen for inclusion in this series are ideally of molecules of importance from a therapeutic perspective. Authors of Structural Snapshots are asked to describe what the structure could tell the readers that was not obvious upon examination of the original publication, and summarize the unique features of the structures and their implications for the biological function of the molecule, as well as possible therapeutic implications (if any). In some respects, Structural Snapshots resemble the ‘News and Views’ articles published in a number of scientific journals, with an important difference that they are written by the scientists directly involved in the elucidation of a particular structure rather than by other experts. Structural Snapshots are intended to be informal, not archival, and we actively encourage opinion, speculation and predictions. In this respect they are not simply a summary of a published article, but rather an extension, where the most important aspects gleaned from the novel structural data can be presented to a wider community. Authors of these articles are also encouraged to provide attractive figures that will help in interpreting the points made by them. Structural Snapshots published in The FEBS Journal are freely available to the scientific community immediately upon publication, unlike some of the primary publications they are based on, which frequently require journal subscription. The first Structural Snapshot, presented in this issue, is authored by Dr H. Eric Xu et al. [1] from the Van Andel Research Institute in Grand Rapids, MI, USA and its offshoot in Shanghai, China. Based on the crystal structure of the rhodopsin-arrestin complex, obtained with the use of a femtosecond X-ray laser, the authors discuss how signaling by a G protein-coupled receptor is terminated by arrestin. Their work provides an example of how the use of complementary structural techniques can yield biologically very important results. In a forthcoming Snapshot Dr Thomas Walz from Harvard Medical School and his collaborators [2] discuss functional aspects of the complexes involved in peroxisome biosynthesis. Their work relied very much on the utilization of cryo-electron microscopy, a technique that is now very rapidly gaining in importance. Further Structural Snapshots are in various stages of preparation and we hope that this series will prove useful to the broad readership of The FEBS Journal. We are most happy to consider suggestions for future Structural Snapshots ([email protected]).