Foreword: A Visit to the Doctor

May 17, 2050—You wake up feeling terrible, and you know it’s time to see a doctor. In the office, the physician looks you over, listens to your symptoms, and prescribes a drug. But first, the doctor takes a look at your DNA

That’s right, your DNA. Researchers predict that the medicines of the future may not only look and work differently than those you take today, but tomorrow’s medicines will be tailored to your genes. In 10 to 20 years, many scientists expect that genetics—the study of how genes influence actions, appearance, and health—will pervade medical treatment. Today, doctors usually give you an “average” dose of a medicine based on your body size and age. In contrast, future medicines may match the chemical needs of your body, as influenced by your genes. Knowing your unique genetic make-up could help your doctor prescribe the right medicine in the right amount, to boost its effectiveness and minimize possible side effects.

Along with these so-called pharmacogenetic approaches, many other research directions will help guide the prescribing of medicines. The science of pharmacology—understanding the basics of how our bodies react to medicines and how medicines affect our bodies—is already a vital part of 21st-century research. Chapter 1, “ABCs of Pharmacology,” tracks a medicine’s journey through the body and describes different avenues of pharmacology research today....

Medicines By Design aims to explain how scientists unravel the many different ways medicines work in the body and how this information guides the hunt for drugs of the future. Pharmacology is a broad discipline encompassing every aspect of the study of drugs, including their discovery and development and the testing of their action in the body.Much of the most promising pharmacological research going on at universities across the country is sponsored by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Working at the crossroads of chemistry, genetics, cell biology, physiology, and engineering, pharmacologists are fighting disease in the laboratory and at the bedside.

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Written by Alison Davis, Ph.D..

Produced by the Office of Communications and Public Liaison
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Medicines By Design Official Website

Table of Contents

    * Foreword: A Visit to the Doctor

    * Chapter 1: ABCs of Pharmacology

    * Chapter 2: Body, Heal Thyself

    * Chapter 3: Drugs from Nature, Then and Now

    * Chapter 4: Molecules to Medicines

    * Medicines for the Future

    * Glossary

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