Physicians may someday predict a drug’s toxic effects in individual patients on the basis of their metabolisms, a proof-of-principle study in rats suggests. The finding could lead to a major shift in expectations for personalized medicine, which scientists generally have presumed would center on genetics.
Since people can vary widely in how they react to a particular medication type or dosage, many doctors consider personalized treatment to be one of medicine’s loftiest goals.
Log in
Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.