The causes of diabetes and its complications are proving harder to unravel than could have been imagined. There has been progress and a wealth of insights, but questions such as: what causes diabetes? how do we cure, rather than treat it? short of a cure for the disease, what is the rational pharmacological approach to its crippling complications? still await definitive answers. The International Diabetes Conference on Molecular and Cell Biology of Type 2 Diabetes and its Complications, held in Turin in 1997, aimed to present up-to-date information on where research stands on type 2 diabetes, its etiology, pathogenesis and long-term consequences. The topics covered include biochemistry, beta-cell pathophysiology, insulin action, metabolism, complications and clinical aspects.