Pharmacogenetics — the subject of this month's joint Nature Reviews Drug Discovery and Nature Reviews Genetics focus — holds great promise for the development of individualized drug therapy. In this issue, the challenges of translating this potential from bench to bedside are considered by Weinshilboum and Wang, whereas Lesko and Woodcock explore potential obstacles from a regulatory perspective and outline some FDA initiatives launched to facilitate the integration of pharmacogenetics into drug development and clinical practice. The development of pharmacogenetic diagnostic assays that are appropriate for routine clinical use is also of importance, and Koch reviews the relative strengths and limitations of some of the most widely used platforms for such assays. Many diseases could involve the endocannabinoid signalling system, and, as Di Marzo and colleagues describe, the application of traditional and novel strategies might lead to new therapeutic agents that target this system. An undesirable property of many new drug candidates is limited solubility and bioavailability, and in the final review article, Rabinow describes how crystalline nanosuspension technology can overcome problems of insolubility. Understanding the biochemical mechanism of drug action is of great importance, and in a perspective article, Swinney proposes simple rules for biochemical efficiency to minimize the risks associated with equilibrium and non-equilibrium binding of competitive inhibitors. Finally, to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Paul Ehrlich, a 'Timeline' article by Drews highlights Ehrlich's major contributions to a range of medical sciences.
