ABSTRACT
The human genome project has generated data unprecedented in its volume and in the promise that it holds in providing a better understanding of the complexity of biological systems. With the ultimate identification of all of the genes in the human genome, a comprehensive understanding of life’s organization at the molecular level becomes a rational scientific goal. The genomic revolution in the life sciences has spawned a fair number of new terms representing not so much new fields of science as expanded opportunities in established fields. One of these, pharmacogenomics is a recently coined term encompassing the application of new genomic technologies and data to the pharmaceutical sciences. The term ‘‘pharmacogenomics’’ has come to include not only pharmaco-genetics, but also the interaction of all the genes present in an individual, a ‘‘whole genome view’’ of drug response. Any definition of pharmacogenomics should include the application of genomic technologies and information to the pharmaceutical sciences.
