More Pharmacogenomics

Mind Hacks has a piece on the new “pharmacogenomics” that we talked about the other day, the new sciences linking pharmaceutical treatments to the specific gene types of users, eliminating the “one size fits all” approach we’re familiar with (and the drug companies no doubt would like to keep). The pressure to come up with “sure-fire” pharmaceuticals for specific offenders will be a counter-pressure to company resistance, I would think. The long-term effect will likely be what the post says: “Almost certainly, it will lead to the drug industry getting into the genetic testing market, probably with equally as many advantages and drawbacks as exist with their current marketing strategies.” This also fits well with a point I’ll be making soon in book review regarding the familiar but false belief that drugs affect everyone the same way and are equally good or bad for everyone. Not true, and this new discipline will pose serious problems for all the corr sent policies based on it. Something for you to really look forward to, I know.