The Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI), based in Basel, Switzerland, is a world-class center for basic research in life sciences. It was founded in 1970 as a joint effort of two Basel-based pharmaceutical companies. The FMI is devoted to the pursuit of fundamental biomedical research. Areas of expertise are neurobiology, mechanisms of cancer, which includes signaling pathways and DNA stability, and the epigenetics of stem cell development and cell differentiation. The institute counts 320 collaborators. It offers training in biomedical research to PhD students and postdoctoral fellows from around the world. In addition, the FMI is affiliated with the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and is an affiliated institute of the University of Basel. The Director of the FMI since 2004 is Prof. Susan Gasser.