Glycomics

From ArticleWorld

Glycomics is an area of biology dealing with the structure and function of chains of sugars. The term is derived from glyco- meaning sugar and follows the naming of genomics which deals with genes. In the body there are two types of sugars. These are extracellular sugars and intracellular sugars. The extracellular sugars are those which have long been associated with diseases in humans. The others are intracellular and meet the nutritional needs of the body. These are found in mainly fruits and vegetables.

The glycome

This is the set of sugars that the organism or cell makes. It is now apparent as research continues that these sugars are as important to cellular functioning as proteins. They combine and form large molecules like carbohydrates and that are already known to function in several capacities. These include in the regulation of hormones, organization of embryonic development, movement of cells and proteins as well as regulation of the immune system.

Research in this field is very complex as unlike gene that have four building blocks and proteins that have 20 there are numerous building blocks. Advances in this field thus are heavily related to improvements in molecular sequencing and bioinformatics.

Value

It is believed by many scientists that carbohydrates are the next level in the search for treatments to a wide range of degenerative conditions. These treatments are thought to be possible as only limited understanding of these molecules is presently available and thus leaves room for great potential. These molecules are expected to possess great immunological value.