Research into stem cells is taking place across South-East Asia, but proven disease treatments are currently out of reach, says Crispin Maslog.

S&T advances should safeguard health, equity and the rights of vulnerable populations, says rural development professional Bhavani R. V.

Online clinical trials hold promise for research but scientists should think hard before using them in poorer countries, says Priya Shetty.

There is a pressing need for Africa to bolster its pharmaceuticals industry, and that requires the right policy framework, argues Priya Shetty.

Developing countries must recognise the value of community healthcare and provide clearer ethical guidelines for practice, says Priya Shetty.

Moral crusades against HIV/AIDS may have good intentions, but there is no substitute for sound evidence on behaviour change, says Priya Shetty.

A partnership involving the US Food and Drug Administration may speed up delivery of new tuberculosis drug combinations, says Priya Shetty.

China must be more vigilant in regulating medical research to protect research participants, say Wang Ruotao and Gail E. Henderson.

Researchers are putting women's lives at risk by being too cautious about trialling drugs during pregnancy, say Nicholas J. White and colleagues.

Ethics committees overseeing clinical trials in poor countries need reforming to protect participants, argue J. Karbwang and F. Crawley.

China's new bioethics regulations will protect human subjects while allowing biomedicine and biotechnologies to develop, argues Qiu Renzong.

Takafira Mduluza says ethics are only part of what makes biomedical research work in poor countries — insight and compensation are as vital.

Developing countries must have equal access to affordable influenza pandemic vaccines, says an editorial in The Lancet.

Increased funding will only improve Indian science if the country's scientific infrastructure is strengthened, argues U.C. Lavania.

An editorial in Nature says science, not politics, drives protests against Libya's death sentence for health workers.

Robert Grant and colleagues say that despite controversy surrounding trials of promising HIV preventive drugs, we must encourage such research rather than try to curb it.

UNESCO's declaration on bioethics and human rights is too weak to be of value, and could harm the world's poor if developing countries accept it, says Richard Ashcroft.