There are high hopes that Pope Francis I will usher in an era of health reform and social activism, but doubts remain, finds Imogen Mathers.

SciDev.Net brings you a selection of the best feature articles of 2012 curated by our editors in London.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has spawned a series of agreements and technical phrases.

Making access to science a human right is a worthy goal, but how can it be enshrined? And will it really deliver? Jan Piotrowski investigates.

S. Romi Mukherjee outlines human rights-based approaches to science, technology and development, and what they mean for policy and practice.

Innovations in relief technologies are vital in the world's complex conflict zones. But there are barriers to overcome, writes Imogen Mathers.

A WHO study that blames arsenic for rising levels of chronic kidney disease in Sri Lanka is in conflict with another report that points to poor quality drinking water, report Dilrukshi Handunnetti and Smriti Daniel.

Science cafés — where scientists talk to local people at popular meeting places — are gaining popularity in Africa, as Esther Nakkazi reports.

Scientists in China and the United States are using modern biotechnology to help prove that traditional medicine has a powerful pharmacological value.

How will science and technology fare at the Rio+20 summit? Aisling Irwin looks at scientists' demands and assesses their chances.

As commercial synthetic biology production gathers speed, there are growing calls for greater regulation, reports Yojana Sharma.

The Okavango Research Institute is drawing on African and international expertise to tackle challenges in a broad range of disciplines.

Interest is growing in tools and innovations that can ease the workload imposed on women farm workers, report M Sreelata and Naomi Antony.

Denis Kyetere, executive director of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation, outlines his vision for the continent's farmers.

An international meeting aims to shake up donor−recipient relations in a quest for more enduring health gains, reports Beverly Petersen Stearns.

India has a heavy TB burden but has the technological capacity to deal with it. T.V. Padma reports.

More than 6,000 US clinical trials are now conducted overseas, and the number is quietly rising in South America.

Researchers are stepping up efforts to finding new treatments for Chagas disease, with three drug candidates in clinical trials.

The recent nuclear scare in Japan has reinforced pressure in China to raise its awareness of the risks of new technologies. Li Jiao reports.