Utilising existing automated high-throughput screening techniques, carbohydrate microarrays are joining DNA and protein microarrays as an enabling technology for biomedical research. Recent synthetic advances and new methods in microarray fabricationhave positioned the glycochip to make significant contributions to the growing field of glycomics. While conventional DNA and protein microarray technologies have been a boon to industrial and academic research, investigators interested in studying the biological roles played by glycans have been frustrated by a lack of similar tools. Carbohydrates and glycoconjugates are known to be involved in inflammation, cell-cell interactions, pathogen-host adhesion, signal-transduction, development, and a myriadof other processes [ 1 ]. With half or more of all proteins containing some carbohydrate modification, the challenges associated with their study have been a considerable hindrance to the field of glycobiology and to our understanding of biology as a whole.
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