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  • Insight |

    Infectious diseases remain a serious medical burden in both developing and industrialized countries. The emergence of new diseases such as HIV/AIDS and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the resurgence of known diseases such as West Nile disease and multidrugresistant tuberculosis, and the threat of deliberately developed man-made infections are cause for concern. When vaccines or effective treatments are not available, we rely on the immune system to clear the host of infectious agents and disease. A better understanding of the tactics used by pathogens and of the immune system's defensive armoury is needed to pave the way for improved strategies of prevention and therapy. The four articles in this Insight provide a snapshot of the issue, addressing in turn the nature and spread of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, the assault strategies used by major pathogens, the immediate innate immune response, and the antigen-specific acquired (or adaptive) immune response, which is the host's second line of defence.

  • Special |

    Next week, over 15,000 delegates will converge on Bangkok for the XV International AIDS conference. We bring you the latest facts and figures on the epidemic, plus breaking conference news.

  • Special |

    As the Cassini spacecraft arrives at Saturn to begin a four-year exploration of the ringed giant and its moons, read our interactive guide to the mission.

  • Special |

    Synthesizing and selecting the lead compounds that will become the drugs of the future are the heart of drug discovery. Tim Chapman goes back to basics.

  • Collection |

    Australia has been a quiet player on the international biotech scene, but in recent years it has been taking strides to reinvent itself as tomorrow's young entrepreneur. This supplement to Naturecharts that transformation.

  • Milestone |

    Milestones in Development is a collaboration between five journals - Nature,Nature Cell Biology,Nature Reviews Genetics,Nature Reviews Molecular Cell BiologyandNature Reviews Neuroscience. Twenty-four 'Milestones' highlight the discoveries that have made the greatest impact on the developmental biology field over the past 100 years.

  • Insight |

    Last year the official completion of the human genome sequence was announced, capping years of hard work. Now that the flashbulbs have dimmed, scientists are taking a hard look at the results. Benefits of the sequence were prophesied to include 'magic bullet' therapeutics, individualized medicine, tools physicians can use, and ensure that these tools are readily available. Although one graduate student can now make huge strides with access to the Internet and basic molecular biology equipment, true success may demand nothing short of entirely new methods of clinical study and reorganization of existing academic structures.

  • Nature Outlook |

    Japan is changing. The cynic might say that this can't be so - that Japanese policy-makers always talk about change but that nothing ever happens. It is indeed true that new policies in Japan often end up having little ultimate effect, that new systems are trumped by conventional ways of doing things. The latest policy initiative - the reorganization of the universities into administratively independent organizations - might seem to be just another in a long line.

  • Special |

    Protein arrays and protein assays in parallel are enabling researchers to look at protein interactions and activity on a large scale, as Lisa Melton finds out.

  • Special |

    Databases are having to move with the times as people expect more from them than simple data storage and retrieval.

  • Special |

    With the publication of the rat genome, Naturecelebrates the contributions of the lab rat to medical science.

  • Collection |

    This Collection of articles is unprecedented: a Naturesupplement that was written for researchers in China and originally published, at the end of last year, in the Chinese language.