A well-integrated inflammatory response and its ending, i.e. resolution, is essential in health and disease. Our research focuses on understanding the cellular and molecular events that govern resolution. This lecture will give an update and overview of recent advances from studies by the author and colleagues on the biosynthesis and actions of the novel anti-inflammatory lipid mediators, resolvins, and protectins that are generated from the omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA). These previously unappreciated families of lipid-derived mediators were originally isolated from experimental murine models of acute inflammation captured during the natural spontaneous resolution phase. They possess anti-inflammatory, proresolving, and protective properties. The resolvins and protectins, in animal models, control the duration and magnitude of inflammation. Defective resolution mechanism(s) may underlie our current appreciation of the inflammatory phenotype(s) that characterize some prevalent human diseases. Hence, mapping of these resolution circuits provides new avenues for appreciating the molecular basis of many inflammatory diseases.