Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by hamartomatous tumours of the brain, heart, skin, lung and kidney. Patients with TSC show a diverse range of neurological features (including seizures, cognitive disability and autism) and renal manifestations (including angiomyolipomas, epithelial cysts and renal cell carcinoma (RCC)). TSC is caused by inactivating mutations in TSC1 and TSC2, which encode hamartin and tuberin, respectively. These two proteins form a complex that negatively regulates mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), a master regulator of cellular growth and metabolism. In clinical trials, allosteric inhibitors of mTORC1 decrease angiomyolipoma size, but the tumours regrow after treatment cessation. Therefore, the development of strategies to eliminate rather than suppress angiomyolipomas remains a high priority. This Review describes important advances in the TSC field and highlights several remaining critical knowledge gaps: the factors that promote aggressive behaviour by a subset of TSC-associated RCCs; the molecular mechanisms underlying early-onset cystogenesis in TSC2-PKD1 contiguous gene deletion syndrome; the effect of early, long-term mTORC1 inhibition on the development of TSC renal disease; and the identification of the cell or cells of origin of angiomyolipomas.