The Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM) was created in 1994 by the Telethon Foundation, one of Italy’s major non-profit organizations, to promote the advancement of research aimed at the diagnosis, prevention and cure of human genetic diseases. TIGEM's mission is to understand the mechanisms of genetic diseases and to develop therapeutic and preventive strategies. The scope of the science currently covered at TIGEM spans three disease areas: developmental disorders, inherited eye diseases and inborn errors of metabolism. Research approaches include molecular genetics, cell biology, protein biochemistry, transgenic mice, bioinformatics, functional genomics, systems biology and gene therapy.