Pharmacogenetics

Pharmacogenetics: 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."