Discovering the power of glycobiology sugars on the ABO blood typing system represented my biggest aha moment.  Our blood is classified into four different groups: A, B, O, and AB. This classification is done based upon the different sugars surrounding the red blood cell (RBC). The medical community calls the effect of these sugars antigens because of how the immune system reacts to them. 

Glycobiology is the study of sugar. Most people have never heard of this science and would question why there needs to be an entire field of science dedicated to studying sugar. We all grew up believing sugar was just used for energy. Then, we learned that sugar can actually make us fat by way of a recently discovered (2010) biological process called de novo lipogenesis. 

​We have many misconceptions about the role of sugar in the body. Most of us know that too much sugar is bad and causes lots of problems. But, there are good sugars that surround every single cell in the human body. In fact, they surround every animal cell, line every plant cell wall, and surround every bacteria and virus too. Without these sugars, life could not exist. 

In the Essentials of Glycobiology ten-part series (June 18 - August 20, 2024), I covered the foundational elements of glycobiology documented by the National Academy of Science in their October 2012 publication, Transforming Glycoscience—A Roadmap for the Future. In this current 16-part series, starting tooday, I will discuss the absolutely fascinating aspects of glycobiology and how they determine, explain, and relate to human health. 

The word 'immunosenescence' is very intimidating just by itself. The word describes the process of how our immune system degrades with age. The organs of the lymphatic system, where so many of the immune system cells are created and housed, change in the elderly. That is why flu and COVID-19 respiratory illnesses dramatically affect older folks rather than the young. As people age, both adaptive and innate immune systems tend to lose efficacy over time, leading to difficulties mounting immune responses against new pathogens. Consequently, many diseases, including cancer, tend to occur amongst the elderly. Apoptosis (depicted in the illustration at the right) fails to work properly and cancerous cells grow in number and strength.