UCLA has created a new method of prediction hoping to better anticipate the relative efficacy of certain prescription medications, as well as reducing their side effects. By using the submitted genetic data from approximately 342,000 UK individuals, researchers anticipate they can better predict the effectiveness of four specific medications involved in the study, Satins, Metformin, Warfarin, and Methotrexate. These medications are the beginning of larger scope studies that will involve more medications in increasingly diverse roles, though the study first must conclusively identify correlative/causative links and methods of management prior to instilling further diverse medication.
In my opinion, this study seems to be exceedingly broad in its scope and not currently an effective method of regulating and anticipating the use of certain common prescription drugs. Medications used today are employed based on their known effectiveness related to large populations regardless of their genetic identity. To effectively employ these techniques, genetic data must be gathered either prior or concurrently with treatment, which might slow down the dispensary of necessary medication when broadly effective drugs are currently available. When genetic information and resources become more viable and readily attainable in a medicinal setting for less-than exclusively genetically related ailments, this study might become more relevant.
