After human genome mapping, omics revolution and empowering sequencing technologies developed at the turn of the century, new deals are to switch from population medicine to individual therapies, from curing the disease to preventing it. This review by the pharmacogenetics and predictive medicine working group of the French clinical biology society (SFBC) aims at placing into perspective the notions of tailored medicine, pharmacogenetics, genetics and genomics, emphasizing their interactions and discussing their signifiance according to researchers and to clinicians.