Ask the Scholars

Interviews from 2003

Question 5

Is it true that people metabolize drugs at different rates and that this correlates with "racial" groupings?

What about data that suggest differences in vulnerabilities to illness, metabolism of alcohol, opiates, and other drugs among racial groupings? Should drug manufacturers not assume that clinical trials performed on Whites are generalized to all populations?

Answers:

Pilar Ossorio

Microbiologist and Bioethicist

People do metabolize drugs at different rates, and this is due to many factors, only some of which are genetic. Drug metabolism can be influenced by the rate at which drugs are transported into cells, the rate at which they are broken down inside of cells, the rate at which they are excreted, etcetera. Genes influence these processes because these processes are conducted by enzymes and transport proteins. However, environmental factors also play a strong role. Diet, for instance, may inc...

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