Outlook in 2011

Can exercise, social interaction and the Mediterranean diet really help to keep the cognitive decline of Alzheimer's disease at bay?

Uncovering genes that are linked with Alzheimer's disease can help researchers understand what causes the disease. But it's not easy.

The hunt is on for biomarkers that signal the descent into Alzheimer's disease. One initiative is leading the pack.

After a quarter of a century, the amyloid hypothesis for Alzheimer's disease is reconnecting to its roots in prion research.

Drugs in development for Alzheimer's disease take aim at a variety of neural mechanisms. But despite a wealth of possibilities, there have been few successes.

The most controversial aspect of biofuels is the perceived competition for farmland. Will advances in biofuels and agriculture send this trade-off speeding towards the history books?

Thirty five years of experience has taught one of the world's leading biofuels producers several essential lessons, which other countries should heed, says Marcia Moraes.

The green slime that covers ponds is an efficient factory for turning sunlight into fuel, but growing it on an industrial scale will take ingenuity.

A biomass-based fuel needs to be cheap and energy dense. Gasoline sets a high standard.

Bioenergy could help bring food security to the world's poorest continent, say Lee R. Lynd and Jeremy Woods.

Shifting from corn to perennial crops in making biofuels is essential to save clean water, argues Jeremy Martin

Biofuels could help poor nations modernize, but scaling up aid supported projects to commercial operations is far from easy.

Biofuels have been hailed as key to reducing our fossil-fuel dependence, yet their environmental and social impacts remain uncertain. A complex task lies ahead for policy makers.

The inedible parts of plants are feeding the next generation of biofuels. But extracting the energy-containing molecules is a challenging task.

Proponents of biomass-based fuels push for sustainability against a steady tide of conflicting analysis, but can advanced biofuels cut the mustard?

New drugs are generating much excitement, but a cure for all will take generations of therapies, argues Charles Rice

The hepatitis C virus is endemic among injection drug users, who could harbour treatment-resistant viruses. We need to adapt to this reality, says Diana Sylvestre

Can doctors calculate a patient's chance of being cured by searching their DNA? Hepatitis C researchers are starting to make this a reality.