Welcome to AACC 's Pharmacogenomics Resource Site. We hope that these links provide the information you are looking for.
What is Pharmacogenomics?
All drugs (and other substances) that we ingest or are absorbed by our bodies, are metabolized by enzymes so that our bodies can use the substances (as in food or drugs) or excrete the substance. Minute changes in the genes that make the enzymes can cause minute changes in the structures of those enzymes—and those changes may have a significant effect on how the metabolism proceeds.
Pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics are the studies of how each of us responds to drugs based upon our genes. Some of us over-metabolize the active ingredient or active metabolite of a drug, which means that the body may need a higher dosage of the drug to get the desired effect. In the opposite case, if we under-metabolize a drug, a “normal” dose may accumulate and cause adverse drug reactions.
AACC and Pharmacogenomics
AACC has had a longstanding interest in pharmacogenomics, considering its potential to become a major component of therapeutic drug management. It has been our mission to educate our members and other interested professionals, in the technologies and procedures available to conduct pharmacogenetic studies, the interpretation of test result and the application of those results, in consultation with clinicians and pharmacologists, to provide better patient care.
Pharmacogenomics Help
Have a question about pharmacogenomics? Ask it on AACC's listserv . Organized by AACC's Pharmacogenomics Committee, the listserv provides a forum for discussion among several hundred international experts.
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