Pharmacogenetics News and Research

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The terms pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics are often used interchangeably to describe a field of research focused on how genes affect individual responses to medicines. Whether a medicine works well for you—or whether it causes serious side effects—depends, to a certain extent, on your genes.

Just as genes contribute to whether you will be tall or short, black-haired or blond, your genes also determine how you will respond to medicines. Genes are like recipes—they carry instructions for making protein molecules. As medicines travel through your body, they interact with thousands of proteins. Small differences in the composition or quantities of these molecules can affect how medicines do their jobs.

These differences can be due to diet, level of activity, or the medicines a person takes, but they can also be due to differences in genes. By understanding the genetic basis of drug responses, scientists hope to enable doctors to prescribe the drugs and doses best suited for each individual.

Study: New genetic marker predicts warfarin dose in African-Americans

A newfound genetic marker promises to better predict warfarin dose in African-Americans, according to a study published online today in The Lancet. If confirmed in further studies, the finding may help to avert more of the bleeds and blood clots that come when a patient's starting dose misses the drug's narrow safety window.

5 Jun 2013

Aviir to extend comprehensive inherited cardiovascular disease genetic test menu

Aviir Inc., a biotechnology company dedicated to the prevention of cardiovascular disease through innovative laboratory tests, announced that it will be extending its offered services with comprehensive inherited cardiovascular disease genetic test menu.

8 May 2013

New born neurons as a therapeutic strategy: an interview with Mi-Hyeon Jang, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota

There are two regions in the brain that continue to produce new neurons well into adulthood. One of these regions is the hippocampus and as we converse this region is actively involved in memory formation, mood regulation and cognition.

2 Apr 2013

New DNA chip could improve diagnosis and therapeutics of ADHD

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common childhood neuropsychiatric disorder. Yet there is currently no tool that will confirm the diagnosis of ADHD. In her thesis entitled "Development of a genotyping system to be applied in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and its Pharmacogenetics".

22 Jan 2013

Genetic test to help prescribe proper dose of blood-thinner warfarin

Patients suffering from dangerous blood clots will receive genetic testing to help health professionals at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System prescribe the proper dose of the blood-thinner warfarin.

7 Sep 2012

Millennium introduces novel pharmacogenetic testing

Millennium Laboratories, the leading research-based clinical diagnostic company dedicated to improving the lives of people suffering from pain, announced today the introduction of Millennium Pharmacogenetic Testing.

29 Jun 2012

Health Canada approves AutoGenomics’ INFINITI PGx testing system

AutoGenomics, a leader in providing automated, molecular microarray testing solutions, announced today that they have received their first Health Canada Medical Device Class III approvals for their automated INFINITI Pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing system.

28 Jun 2012

Shanghai Institutes of Preventative Medicine, Gentris sign MOU to advance personalized medicine

Gentris Corporation, a global leader in the application of genomic biomarkers to clinical studies, announced today that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Shanghai Institutes of Preventative Medicine to advance global personalized medicine.

22 Jun 2012

Personalized medicine and the Human Genome Project

It’s nearly a decade since the completion of the Human Genome Project, (1) which aimed to sequence the complete human genome.

1 Jun 2012

Mini-Lecture Series from ARUP Laboratories

ARUP Laboratories, a national reference laboratory, is pleased to announce its Mini-Lecture Series during the annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society in Honolulu.

8 May 2012

New discovery paves way for genetic screening test

Researchers at the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine have identified a genetic variation that raises the risk of developing serious necrotic jaw bone lesions in patients who take bisphosphonates, a common class of osteoclastic inhibitors.

27 Jan 2012

Study may help personalize pain medication management for sickle cell disease patients

A study that may help personalize pain medication management for sickle cell disease patients is underway at Georgia Health Sciences University.

9 Dec 2011

Gut bacteria shown to affect statin efficacy in some people

The team led by a Duke University scientist has identified three bile acids produced by gut bacteria that were evident in people who responded well to a common cholesterol-lowering drug called simvastatin. The finding, published Oct. 13, 2011, in PLoS One, demonstrates how gut bacteria can cause inherent differences in the way people digest, metabolize and benefit from substances such as drugs.

17 Oct 2011

Researchers identify gut bacteria bile acids linked to effectiveness of statin drugs in lowering cholesterol

Statins can be effective at lowering cholesterol, but they have a perplexing tendency to work for some people and not others. Gut bacteria may be the reason.

14 Oct 2011

Illumina, UNTHSC enter next-generation sequencing collaboration in forensic DNA analysis

Illumina, Inc. today announced it has entered into a wide-ranging collaborative research agreement with the Institute of Applied Genetics and the Department of Forensic and Investigative Genetics at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC). Illumina and UNTHSC will collaborate on several visionary projects in forensics using Illumina's next-generation sequencing technologies.

From Illumina, Inc. 4 Oct 2011

Huge economic, social and personal burden of AF-related strokes across Latin America

Urgent coordinated action from national governments, medical societies and patient organizations is needed to avoid a public health crisis resulting from the tide of preventable strokes that leave many people with atrial fibrillation (AF) mentally and physically disabled or dead, every year. How Can We Avoid a Stroke Crisis in Latin America?, a report from Action for Stroke Prevention - a group of health experts from around the world - reveals the huge economic, social and personal burden of AF-related strokes across the region.

12 Sep 2011

First international conference on developmental, translational and clinical pharmacogenomics

The first international conference hosted by the University of South Florida College of Pharmacy will focus on ways to improve health care by customizing drug prescribing and treatment based on an individual's genetic makeup.

24 Aug 2011

Mayo researchers to translate genomic discoveries into tools for individualized medicine

Mayo Clinic researchers will receive more than $3 million in a four-year grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute to translate recent genomic discoveries into tools for individualized medicine. Recent advances in the genetics of heart and blood vessel diseases will be integrated into electronic medical records so doctors can more accurately determine patients' risk of heart attacks, blood vessel diseases and adverse reactions to heart medications.

18 Aug 2011

Lighter smokers with two high-risk gene variations more likely to develop lung cancer

Smokers with variations in two specific genes have a greater risk of smoking more cigarettes, becoming more dependent on nicotine and developing lung cancer, a new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows.