Logo

Genome-based Personalized Medicine

Aug 20, 2008

James Watson and Craig Venter might both be Caucasian men, but according to their genes, Watson would metabolize drugs differently than Venter, writes a group led by Venter in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. The group analyzed six drug-metabolizing genes, including the CYP genes, and found that Venter is an extensive metabolizer and Watson is an intermediate metabolizer with an allele that is rare in Caucasians. "Race-based medicine doesn't have any real basis in science," says Venter in the New Scientist.

Breaking News
The Scan

Pig Organ Transplants Considered

The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Food and Drug Administration may soon allow clinical trials that involve transplanting pig organs into humans.

'Poo-Bank' Proposal

Harvard Medical School researchers suggest people should bank stool samples when they are young to transplant when they later develop age-related diseases.

Spurred to Develop Again

New Scientist reports that researchers may have uncovered why about 60 percent of in vitro fertilization embryos stop developing.

Science Papers Examine Breast Milk Cell Populations, Cerebral Cortex Cellular Diversity, Micronesia Population History

In Science this week: unique cell populations found within breast milk, 100 transcriptionally distinct cell populations uncovered in the cerebral cortex, and more.