The pharmacology and molecular genetics BSc degree is jointly organised by the departments of pharmacology and biochemistry in recognition of the need for graduates who are conversant with the concepts and techniques of both disciplines; pharmacology is the study of drugs and their effects on the human body, while genetics is the study of the structure and function of genes and genomes in order to understand how they determine inherited characteristics; genomics is a powerful tool in the study of human genetic variation (the small differences in alleles between individuals can affect their characteristics and health); it is closely related to the term pharmacogenetics which is the study of variation of a drug's effectiveness and toxicity between individuals in relation to variation in their genome; genomics also comes into play in the term toxicogenomics in which changes in gene expression are investigated as a means of classifying and understanding the harm produced by toxic substances (including drugs) to which we may be exposed; graduates from this course are well qualified to contribute to these rapidly growing fields; they are also well qualified for general biomedical fields and graduate entry to medicine.