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The study of genetics promises to improve health care by altering the way diseases are defined, patients are treated, and new medicines are discovered and developed. At GlaxoSmithKline, scientists are conducting genetic research to understand the basis of disease and to gain insight into why patients respond differently to medicines.

GSK devotes significant resources to several major areas of genetic and genomic research that are likely to have a significant impact on patient care in the coming decade.

By discovering the function of specific genes in the body, and what role they play in disease, innovative, new medicines can be developed to both prevent and treat disease. Our scientists are working to identify genes which confer susceptibility to common diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, and where unmet medical need still remains. Studying disease processes at the genetic level will enable our scientists to identify associated biological pathways and so identify new drug targets.

GSK is also studying the relationship between genetic variability and a patient's response to medicine. This field of research is called pharmacogenetics and is being used to better understand what makes a patient respond to a particular treatment. This information will be used in both drug development at GSK and potentially in the clinic, with the expectation to allow patients to be treated with the medicine and the dose that is most likely to result in therapeutic benefit and minimal side effects.

The potential benefits to patients of the results of these research programs will be tremendous. In the future, your doctor may be able to better identify which medicines will work best for you, and newly discovered medicines may be more effective in treating the root cause of your condition. Doctors will have a better understanding of why and how chronic diseases occur and may even have better tools for preventing them.

Currently GSK stands as an industry leader in the science and technology of medical genetic research. By understanding how genetic factors influence health and disease, we are leading the way to the development of safer, more effective treatments for patients.