Friendly competition in GlycoMIP's Summer School
Students and professionals took part in GlycoMIP Research group's first in-person Summer School. The Summer School included a Rheology competition and was funded by the National Science Foundation. Based out of Fralin Life Science Institute, GlycoMIP is broadening research participation in the field of glycomaterials for students from non-R1 universities and HBCUs. GlycoMIP is dedicated to training the next generation of glycomaterials scientists.
Glycomaterials are produced by every living organism. They contain chains of sugars, called glycans, that have critical roles in health and disease. Of the four building blocks of life — glycans, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids — glycans are the most complex and are the most challenging to understand. The tool set for understanding these glycans, so crucial to life itself, lags far behind those available for understanding DNA, RNA, and proteins.