Pharmacogenetics has been defined as the study of variability in drug response due to heredity . More recently, with the fashion for adding the suffix ‘… omics’ to areas of research, the term ‘pharmacogenomics’ has been introduced. While the former term is largely used in relation to genes determining drug metabolism, the latter is a broader based term that encompasses all genes in the genome that may determine drug response . The distinction however, is arbitrary and both terms can be used interchangeably. Over the last 12–18 months, a large number of articles have appeared on pharmacogenomics in various journals. In addition, three new journals with the term ‘pharmacogenomics’ in their title have been launched (Pharmacogenomics, The American Journal of Pharmacogenomics and The Pharmacogenomics Journal)This is because pharmacogenomics is viewed as a highly important area for improving drug therapy and prescribing in the future. Whether this promise is fulfilled and to what extent will only become evident with time.