Pharmacology

Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition and interaction with biological systems, studied through pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use and toxicology. Pharmacokinetics asks what the body does to a drug, covering its liberation, absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion, while pharmacodynamics asks what the drug does to the body through its interaction with biological receptors. The field spans drug composition and properties, sources, medicinal chemistry, drug design, molecular and cellular mechanisms, signal transduction, drug interactions, therapy, medical applications, toxicology and antipathogenic capabilities. Pharmacology is not synonymous with pharmacy: pharmacy is a health services profession concerned with applying what pharmacology, pharmaceutics, medicinal chemistry and related fields teach in dispensing or clinical care, whereas pharmacology is the science-oriented research field that discovers and characterizes chemicals with biological effects.