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Pharmacogenomics in Japan

The Pharmacogenomics Journal volume 4, pages 288–290 (2004)Cite this article

It is clear that in order for scientific advancement to become a reality, the exchange of views and information among people with different backgrounds is necessary. Thus, international cooperation is important for the global promotion of pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics. Unfortunately, information from Asia still seems to be insufficient, even in the globalized world of science and medicine. For this reason, we would like to provide an overview of pharmacogenomics in Japan.

The Japanese government started the Millennium Project in April 2001 to focus on technological innovation concerning three subjects: computerization, an aging-society, and environmental issues. These points are expected to become more important and urgent to the Japanese economy as time progresses, hence any positive developments resulting from the project could brighten the outlook for the future. Research and analysis on the human genome was conducted as one of the projects. Data on 195 059 SNPs have been obtained, and to date, 84 557 of them have been analyzed for their allele frequency using samples from a general population of 752 Japanese. This includes around 6000 coding SNPs (cSNPs) for about 180 pharmacokinetic-related enzymes.1 These data are expected to have a positive effect on pharmacogenomic research and clinical studies in the future.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. R&D Planning & Administration Department, Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan

    M Tamaoki & H Gushima

  2. Department of Pharmacoeconomics, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    K Tsutani

Authors
  1. M Tamaoki
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  2. H Gushima
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  3. K Tsutani
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M Tamaoki.

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DUALITY OF INTEREST

None declared.

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Tamaoki, M., Gushima, H. & Tsutani, K. Pharmacogenomics in Japan. Pharmacogenomics J 4, 288–290 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.tpj.6500261

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