Genetics of the Epilepsies

Genetics is a huge and growing area across human biology and medicine, providing information about basic processes from birth to death, from development to degeneration, and in some instances revealing enough about disease biology to lead to rational new therapies or better use of existing treatments. Recent advances in genetic testing are at the heart of current research on the genetic factors influencing drug response and adverse drug reactions in epilepsy. Genetic, and especially genomic, testing is likely to be increasingly used to improve the effectiveness and safety of epilepsy treatments, focusing on each individual and their specific epilepsy according to the ‘precision medicine’ paradigm. ‘