Introduction to photoswitches and photopharmacology

This editorial is written for a joined theme collection by the guest editors and highlights recent research pertaining to the development and characterization of molecular photoswitches, especially with the outlook on their biological and biomedical applications. The collection covers many areas including the design of regular and visible-light-operated photoswitches, their synthesis (including spectroscopic evaluation), applications in nanomedicine, photopharmacology, chemical biology, bio-sensing and imaging.