Pharmacogenomics

Pharmacogenomics is a combination of two major fields within the larger fields of biology: pharmacology (the study of medications and how they interact with the body, which includes the development of new medications) and genetics (the study of how genes define and control various processes in organisms, especially humans). Specifically, pharmacogenomics is concerned with understanding how individuals’ genetics influence their reactions to various types of drugs; this includes doing research on existing drugs and trying to predict how new drugs or drugs in development will affect individuals with certain genetic characteristics—positively or negatively.

The field is also sometimes called pharmacogenetics. Technically speaking, pharmacogenetics refers to genes specifically involved in the metabolism of pharmaceutical drugs, while pharmacogenomics is more general and studies the interaction of all genes ...