Biomedical research and practice is in the midst of a profound transformation that is being driven by two primary factors: the massive increase in the amount of DNA sequence information; and the development

of technologies to apply the new information. The principal aim of the Human Genome Project, namely the elucidation of the approximately 3 billion base pairs (bps) of the entire genome, has almost, been achieved. In February 2001, the analysis of the first, draft of the sequence was published,1 and this analysis Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical provided the first great, surprise: the total number of protein-coding genes was nearer to 35 000 than the previously estimated 100 000.2 The finished sequence of five entire human chromosomes (chromosomes 22, 21, 20, 14, and Y) has been published,3-7 and for the 50th anniversary

of the publication of the structure of DNA by Watson and Crick8 in April 2003, the finished DNA sequence Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of the entire genome was made available to the public by the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium (IHGSC) on the internet. Over the past few years, more than 30 organisms have Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical had their genomes completely sequenced, with another 100 in progress9,10 and an at least partial DNA sequence has been obtained for thousands of mouse and rat genes. selleck chemical Consequently, we find ourselves at a time at which new types of experiments are possible, and observations, analyses, and discoveries are being made on an unprecedented scale. It, can be Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical expected that genetic considerations

Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical will become important, in all aspects of disease, be they diagnosis, treatment, or prevention. Unfortunately, the billions of bases of DNA sequence do not tell us what all the genes do, how cells work, how we age, how to develop a drug, or – more pertinent, to this paper – how a particular subject Olopatadine will respond to a particular drug. The latter forms the stuff of the future, and this rather broad field has been given the name “functional genomics.” This review attempts to describe the application of genomics to the problem of drug response, and examine future possibilities for effective genetic testing for drug response. The overall incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), at least in American hospitals, is about 6.7%; fatal ADRs occur with an incidence of about 0.3%.11 These unanticipated reactions to medications are largely, if not entirely, genetically determined. By definition, pharmacogenetics is the study of variability in drug responses attributed to genetic factors in different populations.