"Working draft" of human genome completed

Exploiting human genetic variation in drug discovery and development

'The right drug for the right patient at the right time'Is this a realistic goal for today's pharmaceutical industry and tomorrow's medical practitioner? Or merely an over-simplistic refrain that can only ever be an unfulfilled dream? Here we discuss the reality behind the dream and illustrate how the analysis of genetic variation is a complex science that has the capacity to make significant contributions to drug discovery and development strategies. An understanding of the impact of human variation must be a central consideration in the future practice of pharmaceutical R&D.

Genetic risk: the new frontier for the duty to warn

Mental health professionals usually think of the "duty to warn" in the context of mental illness. However, two state appellate courts have endorsed a duty to warn when children of a patient may be at risk genetically for acquiring the disease of their parents. In these cases, the courts held that a physician's legal obligations extended beyond his or her patient to the patient's children. This article discusses these cases, as well as issues regarding implementation of such a duty and the implications for the physician-patient relationship in a health care environment that will be dominated increasingly by genetics issues. The article concludes that it is premature to apply a duty to warn to the treatment of mental illness and to concerns regarding future criminal behavior.