Pharmacogenomics

What is Pharmacogenomics?
It is the study of an individual's genetic information and reaction or response to certain drugs.

The idea behind Pharmacogenomics is that one day you will have a personalized drug treatment for everything. You will know whether Alieve, Advil, or Tylnol works best for your pain relief, based on your genetic make-up.

The hope is that doctors and scientists, working together will create better (more powerful) and safer drugs based on your personal genetic makeup. It is hoped that by honing in on certain diseases that attack certain cells, in relation to certain genes, there will be fewer side-effects for patients.

In the future, doctors will be able to look at a map of your genes and determine what drug will work best for you, without the trial-and-error method.

Pharmacogenomics will also allow for the advanced screening for diseases which will allow individuals at an early age to make adequate changes to their lifestyle and environment which may allow the patient to avoid or lessen the severity of a genetic disease.

Pharmacogenomics is still in its infant stages of development, and is mostly used in drug trials by pharmaceutical companies to determine the likelihood of the breakdown of their drugs by certain enzymes created by certain genes.


For more information on the technology and complexity behind pharmacogenomics, please visit this sister site that provides a more biological and structural look at the Human Genome Project

Laws against Genetic Discrimination

There are two laws in effect (or in the process of negotiation between houses) that deal with the disclosure and discrimination based upon genetic information.

This is a VERY sticky topic.

Senate Bill 1053: The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2003 deals with health insurance and employment. It operates under bipartisan support and the idea that everyone should have healthcare. It basically defines genetic information and states that no employer or insurance agency can discriminate against an individual based on their genetic code. So, if I had a gene that is known to cause parkinson's, the insurance agency could not raise my rates, or drop my coverage based on this information.

There has been no movement on this bill since it was passed in 95-0 since October 2003.

Senate Bill 306: Genetic Nondiscrimination Act of 2005. This is the updated version of the Previous bill, but only pertains to healthcare. It amends the previous Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to include genetic information, and deals with group and individual coverage as well as Medicare. Premiums are not allowed to be adjusted based on genetic information and Health insurance providers are not allowed to require a genetic test for coverage purposes.

Can you Trigger Cancer?

Drug companies have learned how to advertise, and now they pose an even greater threat to doctors than before.

There are currently companies that are marketing genetic home testing away from the Doctor's office. While these tests provide a safe and easily accessable genetic map, which keeps sensitive information away from insurence companies, they fail to provide support and information to their clients about a very new and ever changing field.



Let's say I am worried about Breast Cancer, because it runs in my family. I take the test and learn that I, too, have the gene which is known to cause Breast Cancer. Now, this is where science tends to turn grey. Knowing that I have this gene, I can try to change my lifestyle to stay away from other things that might trigger the oncoming of the cancer. On the otherhand, maybe the stress will trigger the activation of this gene, that before, was benign. The answer is that scientists are not sure why the genes do what they do. Only that they do them.

Genetic Doping

With all of the hub-ub recently in the News over the use of performence enhancing drugs, it is interesting to note that while little has been publicized about genetic doping, the possibility and reality exists.

As of August 2004, according to a CBS news article, mice had been genetically doped to enhance their endurence, dubbing them the 'marathon mice'.

The article points out several factors in terms of implications of this doping experiment. One being new light shed on what role genes play in exercise and diet and the effects of obesity.

What is of more consternation is what I refer to as the Gattaca Complex, the idea of genetic doping/control and the fear of discrimination based on these principles.