Pharmacogenetics, pharmacogenomics and ecogenetics - Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B

Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics deal with the role of genetic factors in drug effectiveness and adverse drug reactions. The promise of a personalized medicine is beginning to be explored but requires much more clinical and translational research. Specific DNA abnormalities in some cancers already have led to effective targeted treatments. Racially determined frequency differences in pharmacogenetic traits may affect choice of treatment requiring specific testing rather than basing treatments according to racial designation.

The role of genes in variable responses to foreign chemicals (xenobiotics) has been termed ecogenetics or toxicogenetics raising problems in public health and occupational medicine. Nutrigenetics refers to genetic variation in response to nutrients and may affect nutritional requirements and predisposition to chronic disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Medicine (Medical Genetics) and Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA

   Motulsky Arno G.

2. School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310003, China

   Motulsky Arno G. & Qi Ming

3. Beijing Genome Institute, CAS, Beijing, 101300, China

   Qi Ming

4. University of Rochester, NY, 14642, USA

   Qi Ming

Cite this article

Motulsky, A.G., Qi, M. Pharmacogenetics, pharmacogenomics and ecogenetics. J. Zhejiang Univ. - Sci. B 7, 169–170 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.2006.B0169

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• Received: 22 November 2005

• Accepted: 18 January 2006

• Issue Date: February 2006

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.2006.B0169

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