Copenhagen Center for Glycomics

The Center explores the saccharide chains - complex carbohydrates - that cover the surface of our proteins and cells. Complex carbohydrates of cells - the glycome - are often regarded as the third language of life after the genome and the proteome. Defects in the glycome are a major cause of hereditary diseases. The center explores and maps these genes with new enzymatic technologies to turn on and off genes and identify causes of disease. Complex carbohydrates are essential for fundamental cellular processes, and changes in the glycome are involved in e.g. metabolic diseases and cancers. We develop new methods to detect mutations and the changes these infer the glycome and cellular processes. Insight into the glycome may lead to new diagnostic tools and better-targeted drugs and vaccines.