The role of interstellar filaments in regulating the star formation efficiency and shaping the initial mass function

Recent surveys at infrared and submillimeter wavelengths with the Spitzer and Herschel space observatories suggest that star formation in dense molecular gas is governed by essentially the same ``laws'' in nearby Galactic clouds and distant external galaxies. This raises the possibility of a unified picture for star formation in the Universe from individual-cloud scales to galaxy-wide scales. We summarize the star formation scenario favored by Herschel studies of the nearest molecular clouds of the Galaxy which point to the key role of the quasi-universal filamentary structure pervading the cold interstellar medium.