Letter P

Pharmacogenetics

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The merger of pharmacology and genetics into a field that pertains to the hereditary responses to drugs.

For example, after the administration of a muscle relaxant drug, a patient may remain apneic for hours due to a genetically determined defect in metabolizing (processing) the muscle relaxant.

The term 'pharmacogenetics' dates to 1962 when Dr.

Werner Kalow published 'Pharmacogenetics: Heredity and the Response to Drugs.' Pharmacogenetics is now used interchangeably with the newer term 'pharmacogenomics.'

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