What are some of the challenges that face pharmacogenetics?
While pharmacogenetics is expected to be a useful tool to find the best dose of the right medicine for each patient, doctors are unlikely to be able to rely on it alone. Other factors will remain important, and may sometimes overshadow pharmacogenetics. These other factors include characteristics of the disease itself as well as the patient’s diet, weight, lifestyle, and other medicines he or she is taking. As with many new medical advances, it will take time before pharmacogenetics enters the mainstream and becomes a standard tool for making treatment decisions. Overcoming this barrier may be particularly tricky for pharmacogenetics because most medicines work well for most people and adverse reactions are rare. Another challenge facing pharmacogenetics is the number and complexity of interactions a drug has with biological molecules in the body. Variations in many different molecules may influence how someone responds to a medicine. Teasing out the genetic patterns associated with pa
