Genomic biomarkers of toxicity

The difference between measuring changes in gene expression levels in a toxicogenomics study and actually achieving reduced drug development costs is in the knowledge of which gene expression changes are predictive of toxicity. Whether the cost savings are in high-throughput screening, in discovery or in preclinical, testing, the application of genomics, proteomics or metabonomics will require a clear understanding of what these methods actually measure. Results of studies published over the past year have set valuable benchmarks for genomic studies, transforming this technology into a source of candidates for validation as predictive biomarkers of toxicity. This review will summarize some of the publications that have achieved this transformation, and the steps that are still needed for the implementation of predictive tests derived from these genomic biomarkers of toxicity.