title: Nurses should be up to speed on pharmacogenetic testing.
abstract: The expectations for pharmacogenetic testing have been high, partly because of the hype surrounding the human genome project (art & science January 28). But pharmacogenetics will soon become a reality in everyday health care in the UK. Pharmacogenetic testing may not be necessary for the vast numbers of drugs with a wide therapeutic margin and few or no serious side effects. However, it will be helpful in preventing harm when there are difficulties in finding the specific therapeutic dose for a patient.
authors.affiliation: Applied health genetics, University of Plymouth.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Skirton