Current research in drug metabolism, drug transport and drug development

The field of drug metabolism, drug transport and drug development is rapidly advancing. The fast progress of genomic knowledge, as well as improvements and development of novel methods, makes this field particularly dynamic. These advancements encompass the understanding of epigenetics in the regulation of the enzymes, novel animal model systems that allow the study of endogenous and exogenous function of the gene products, the development of P450 enzymes as drug targets and novel methods for studying ADME aspects during drug development. In order to give an update of the current situation in the field, the 17th International Symposium of Microsomes and Drug Oxidations, chaired by Larry Kaminsky, was held in Saratoga July 6-10, 2008, attracting 310 participants. The meeting consisted of 8 plenary sessions, 12 symposia with a total of 60 lectures and 185 abstracts. This report provides a summary of the meeting.