Sponsors of INMED: L'INSERM Le CNRS Ville de Marseille Le Conseil Régional Les Universités à Marseille L'IBDM Inserm is the major research institute in life and medical sciences in France. About 13.000 scientists and staff are contributing to the development of research in fundamental life sciences as well as in clinical domains, with the ultimate goal of improving human health. The French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) is a publicly-funded research organization that defines its mission as producing knowledge and making it available to society. CNRS has 26,000 employees (among which 11,600 researchers and 14,400 engineers and technical and administrative staff). Its amounts to 2.214 billion euros for the year 2004. The 1,260 CNRS service and research units are spread throughout the country and cover all fields of research. Marseille (English alternative spelling Marseilles) is the second largest city in France and the third metropolitan area, with 1,516,340 inhabitants at the 1999 census. Located in the former province of Provence and on the Mediterranean Sea, it is France's largest commercial port and the largest in the Mediterranean. Marseille is the capital of the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region, as well as the prefecture (capital) of the Bouches-du-Rhone département. Bouches-du-Rhone was one of the original 83 départements created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Provence and the principalities of Orange, Martigues, and Lambesc. It lost part of its territory in 1793, including Orange and Apt, when the Vaucluse département was created. The Developmental Biology Institute of Marseille was founded by CNRS, INSERM and University with the aim to create a regional research centre in Developmental Biology and Human Genetics.