ABSTRACT
Superfamily of Phase I Drug Metabolizing Enzymes ..... 451 29.2.2 The Pharmacodynamic Tradition..................................................... 451 29.2.3 Let Us Not Forget the Influence of the Environment..................... 452
29.3 Single Genes and Pharmacogenetics ........................................................... 452 29.4 Pharmacogenetics and Complex Traits Analysis ........................................ 453 29.5 QTL to QTGene........................................................................................... 454 29.6 Pharmacogenomics-The Next Step ........................................................... 454 29.7 Summary ...................................................................................................... 455 References.............................................................................................................. 455
Pharmacogenetics is the study of individual differences in drug response. The field has been recognized since the early 1950s, but the biomedical research devoted to it has been relatively slow in development. Nevertheless, pharmacogenetics has manifold, important implications for health. For some individuals, for example, what would otherwise be termed a drug’s “side effect” may in fact be the main drug effect. Alternatively, an individual may be predisposed to insensitivity to a particular drug, with implications for dose or to make administration of the drug futile. In this chapter we will explore the genetic bases for individual differences in drug actions (although there are environmental effects as well).
