Biochemistry Questions Biochemistry Questions / Explain the concept of pharmacogenomics and its role in personalizing medicine for more effective treatment strategies.

Pharmacogenomics is the use of a patient’s genome to contribute towards the treatment pathways chosen. This is used with breast cancers and cystic fibrosis, amongst other diseases, allowing the most effective drugs to be chosen to provide the best outcomes.

By using a patient’s DNA sequence, it can be quantitatively determined which drugs are most likely to perform the best. This allows the personalisation of the treatment to the specific patient.

Some drugs, as with CAR-T cell therapy, must be designed for the specific patient. This is another example of personalised medicine, modifying the patient’s T cells to target the cancerous cells.