Perspectives in pharmacogenetics

The historical perspective of pharmacogenetics is presented to a large exte nt from a personal view since I happened to get into this field of science at the time of its beginning, and since pharmacogenetics has remained the b ackbone of my scientific career. Pharmacogenetics initially emphasized obse rvations of interpersonal variability, but the attention on interethnic dif ferences soon followed. Technical advances led to the identification of man y responsible gene alterations in both individuals and in populations. Incl uded is a relatively extensive discussion in which the effects and the diff erent consequences of monogenic (mendelian) and multigenic (multifactorial) variation are compared.