This special issue of Trends in Parasitology comprises a collection of timely reviews arising from the 2nd Molecular Approaches to Malaria meeting held 1-5 February 2004 in Lorne, Australia, four years after the successful inaugural meeting. As the name suggests, Molecular Approaches to Malaria focused on the latest molecular developments in malaria research, and their biological and clinical implications. By no means is this special issue intended to represent a comprehensive recapitulation of all of the presentations at the meeting. Rather, the articles address, in more general terms, recent advances on broader themes that were prominent at Molecular Approaches to Malaria meeting 2004.