Pharmacogenomics

Pharmacogenomics is the study of how genes affect a person’s response to drugs. This relatively new filed combines pharmacology (the science of drugs) and Genomics (the study of genes and their functions) to develop effective, safe medications and doses that will be tailored to a person’s genetic makeup. 

Pharmacogenomics aims to develop rational means to optimize drug therapy, concerning the patients’ genotype, to ensure maximum efficiency with minimal adverse effects. Through the utilization of pharmacogenomics, it is hoped that pharmaceutical drug treatments can deviate from what is dubbed as the “one-dose-fits-all” approach.

In pharmacogenomics, genomic information is used to study individual responses to drugs. When a gene variant is associated with a particular drug response in a patient, there is the potential for making clinical decisions based on genetics by adjusting the dosage or choosing a different drug, for example. Scientists assess gene variants affecting an individual’s drug response in the same way they assess gene variants associated with diseases: by identifying genetic loci associated with known drug responses, and then testing individuals whose response is unknown. Modern approaches include multigene analysis or whole-genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) profiles, and these approaches are just coming into clinical use for drug discovery and development.


The field of pharmacogenomics is still in its infancy. Its use is currently quite limited, but new approaches are under study in clinical trials. In the future, pharmacogenomics will allow the development of tailored drugs to treat a wide range of health problems, including cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS, and asthma.