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The science of studying both the mechanisms and the actions of drugs, usually in animal models of disease, to evaluate their potential therapeutic value. Pharmacology is a field of study that seeks to understand how chemical substances in the environment, such as drugs, interact with the body. Substances that are found in the environment other than drugs, for example poisons and toxins are also studied by pharmacologists to try to understand how those substances can harm the body. Pharmacology as a discipline has been in existence for approximately the past 100 years, having developed out of the closely related disciplines of physiology and chemistry.