  We report recent results from the ALICE experiment the Large Hadron Collider
on open charmed hadron production in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 2.76$ and 7
TeV, and Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{\mathrm{s}_{_{\mathrm{NN}}}} = 2.76$ TeV.
Open charmed hadrons are kinematically fully reconstructed in the hadronic
decay channels \DtoKpi, \DtoKpipi, and \DstartoDpi %$D^0\rightarrow K^-\pi^+$,
$D^+\rightarrow K^-\pi^+ \pi^+$, and $D^{*+} \rightarrow D^0 (K^-\pi^+) +
\pi^+$ and identified through their invariant mass. Combinatorial background is
minimized by selecting a displaced vertex topology. Inclusive charm and beauty
production is measured by detecting electrons (muons) from semi-leptonic decays
of open charmed and beauty hadrons in the central (forward) region. Comparison
to results from state-of-the-art QCD calculations is given. First results on
nuclear modifications factors in Pb--Pb collisions from hadronic and
semi-leptonic decays are presented.
