Translational cancer research is forging ahead at an increasing pace. As the molecular pathways that are disturbed in cancer are being unravelled, new therapeutic targets are being identified and novel drugs are being developed. These advances are being translated into clinical trials with a view to providing personalized cancer care, in which the genetic makeup of an individual tumour and other biomarkers can predict the combination of treatments that it will best respond to.

Fluorescence microscopy is acquiring new capabilities as methodological developments allow it to break the diffraction limit. This Collection of articles from several leaders in the field highlights the diversity of super-resolution microscopy techniques being developed and the principles that allow them to overcome this long-standing limitation.

It's a field sparking huge debate - but, despite several setbacks, human embryonic stem cell research looked set to gain momentum in the US this year, backed by hundreds of millions in federal dollars. On 23 August, all that changed after a US judge agreed with a lawsuit contending the research is illegal. In this special, Naturebrings you the latest on the injunction.

Biological processes, such as protein synthesis or trafficking, undergo random fluctuations — 'noise' — that are often detrimental to reliable information transfer, but can also constitute opportunities for more efficient cellular computations. This web focus highlights the most vibrant research on the biological systems that have evolved to harness or exploit cellular noise, with direct implications for cancer, stem cells, ageing and evolution, as published in Natureover the past ten years.

Like the condition itself, advances in understanding and treating Parkinson's disease have come slowly yet inexorably. Finally, however, we might be near the tipping point. With prevalence predicted to exceed 8 million in the next 20 years, new ways to treat Parkinson's disease are urgently needed.

As scientists assess the environmental damage caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Nature's ongoing coverage brings you the latest from the region.

More than one billion people go hungry today, and the vast majority of them are in low-income countries. Increasing yield sustainably — using less water, fertilizers and pesticides — is going to be a crucial part of the solution. Natureasks what role science has to play in securing food for the future.

The miraculous drugs that keep so many HIV-positive individuals alive have blunted the urgency with which people talk about the AIDS epidemic. Even so, there is a renaissance afoot in HIV/AIDS research, with renewed focus on a cure, more powerful drugs and innovative approaches to prevention.

Chagas disease is one of the most neglected of the tropical diseases, yet millions of people are infected with it. There are only two available drugs to treat it, both of which are more than 40 years old and neither of which is ideal. As the global population has become more internationally mobile, Chagas disease has spread from Latin America to become a worldwide threat. This Outlook highlights some of the progress in understanding and treating Chagas disease over its 101 years of recent history and outlines the challenges still to be met.

Natureinvestigates the metrics that shape scientific careers, from the citation index to the h-index and more.

Plasticity is the capacity of cells or organisms to vary their properties or behaviour when environmental conditions change. Studies over the past few decades have shown that cells are considerably more plastic than had been thought. Uncovering the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying this plasticity is a dynamic area of biology and biomedicine.

Helper T cell heterogeneity was discovered two decades ago, initially with the designation of Th1 and Th2 cells, which are involved in immunity against intracellular and extracellular pathogens, respectively. Several years ago a third lineage was identified as the Th17 cells and several novel T cell subsets have since been found, including Treg and Tfh cells. The collection of articles presented in the May special issue and accompanying web focus summarize our understanding of the development and function of the T cell subsets in immunity and immune diseases.