[Frontiers in Bioscience S2, 1-4, January 1, 2010]

[Frontiers in Bioscience S2, 1-4, January 1, 2010]

SNPs: At the origins of the databases of an innovative biotechnology tool

Anthony Corfield¹, Peter Meyer^2,3, Shelina Kassam⁴, Gregor Mikuz⁵, Consolato Sergi⁶

1Clinical Science at South Bristol, Bristol Royal Infirmary, University of Bristol, United Kingdom, ²Charite University Hospitals, Institute of Human Genetics, Berlin, Germany, ³Laboratories for Molecular Oncogenetics, Ulm, Germany, ⁴Queen Medical Center, Nottingham University Hospital, United Kingdom; ⁵ Institute of Pathology, University of Innsbruck, Austria, ⁶Pediatric Pathology Section, Institute of Pathology, University of Innsbruck, Austria

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Abstract
2. Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics
3. Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs)
4. SNPs Databases
5. Final Considerations
6. References

1. ABSTRACT

The discovery that DNA sequence variations can influence the response of an individual to a drug or can predict the outcome of a disease has added a new dimension to evidence-based medicine. It is clear that the goals, risks, and benefits of drug therapy can be better assessed if the underlying genome of the patient is known. The relevance of identifying patients at increased risk of adverse drug reactions, the application of genomic technologies to drug development and the clarification of the mechanisms of drug action on cells will be important targets in the therapeutic approach to medicine in the 21st century. In this review, we summarize the development of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and give computational biological data for SNPs databases.