Hard labour
Controversial childbirth expert Michel Odent now claims that 'industrialised obstetrics' could be to blame for autism and drug abuse. Joanna Moorhead reports.
Medicine’s holy grail
The race is on for an Aids vaccine. The prize? Big bucks, overnight fame - and millions of lives saved. So could a British lab be in the lead? Sarah Boseley reports.
Welcome to the baby lab
Joanna Moorhead explains why she allowed scientists to experiment on Catriona, her five-month-old daughter.
The long wait
David Beresford, who has Parkinson's disease, is to undergo experimental brain surgery in September. Until then he will be writing a weekly diary on these pages
Topic of cancer
The Observer Profile: Richard Doll. He didn't want to be a doctor, but his brilliant medical research has saved more lives than a host of glamorous drug discoveries. Still working at 89, the credit for last week's plummeting cancer figures is entirely his.