Carbohydrates for life, health and diseases

What molecules determine human ABO blood groups? What do influenza viruses grab when they infect a human? What define the serotypes of bacterial species? What are the most diverse protein post-translational modifications? The answer to all of these questions is “carbohydrates.”

Indeed, carbohydrates are indispensable biomolecules and components that are essential for life. They are key recognition components of many biological and pathological events. Synthesizing glycans and understanding the roles of carbohydrates used to be daunting tasks but, thanks to recent progress, have become easier.

The exciting talks in our symposium at Discover BMB, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, which will be held in March in Seattle, will present recent advances made on several fronts: glycan synthesis, tools developed, chemical biology, and the roles and the applications of carbohydrates in health and diseases.

The topics include human and bacterial glycans, biocatalysis, chemoenzymatic synthesis, glycomics, glycoproteomics, anti-glycan antibodies and the roles and applications in learning, memory and treatment of adult diseases.

We aim to engage aficionados as well as those interested in learning more about how to implement these approaches in their own research.  

Keywords: Biocatalysis, carbohydrates, glycans, glycoscience, synthesis, recognition.

Who should attend: Anyone interested in the recent advances in the synthesis, roles and applications of glycans and glycoconjugates.

Theme song: “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles.

This session is powered by a sugar rush.