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The New Pharmacogenomics: New RNA Blood Biomarkers Tests vs. Old DNA Saliva Tests2026-05-11
“False eloquence is exaggeration; true eloquence is emphasis.”
—William R. Alger
Psychiatrists have had for years at their disposal simple DNA tests (usually performed via a cheek swab/saliva) that primarily measure cytochrome p450 mutations. Such tests are useful for determining if somebody is a slow or fast metabolizer for a particular medication that you want to use or that they are on. That’s all they can do, and it is a useful function.
However, the reports for those tests purport to indicate medications which should not be used. That is illogical scientifically and detrimental clinically. If somebody is a slow or fast metabolizer, you just adjust the dosage of mediation instead of avoiding using, and thus losing, that potentially useful medication. The genesis of this mischaracterization is unclear, but may have something to do with an erroneous marketing message that such tests can help you chose medications. They do not. This messaging has created confusion for doctors, and poorer outcomes for patients.
New RNA blood biomarker tests can help with objective assessment (diagnosis), as well as can match individuals to medications based on their biology (treatment). So they indeed can help you chose medications for your patient. For example, our MindX One test (https://mindxsciences.com/bloodtests/ ) has currently 366 biomarkers, that match individuals in a personalized way to treatments from a list of 233 medications and 365 nutraceuticals.
As such, these new RNA biomarker tests help with Step 1 in the clinical workflow, “What does the patient have?”. They also help with Step 2, “What could the patient be treated with?”. Step 3 is the information provided by the old DNA testing, “What dose of the medication(s) should I use?”. Or you can just empirically start low and go up slow.
We are looking into adding in the future the DNA testing component to our offerings, especially with the addition of some new proprietary functional polygenic risk scores, that could detect predisposition before the biomarkers and disease start manifesting. In this way, one would have the full stack, from prevention to treatment.
Live. Happier. Longer.
Alexander B. Niculescu, MD, PhD
Founder +CEO| MindX Sciences