Joshua ElkingtonFounder and General Partner at Axial

Carolyn Bertozzi on glycobiology

Name: Carolyn Bertozzi on glycobiology
Uploaded: 2024-05-01T16:06:54+00:00
Duration: 1 min
Channel: Joshua Elkington
Description: Carolyn Bertozzi explains glycobiology by comparing the sugar coating on cells to an M&M shell. Her undergraduate professor dismissed it as mere…

1 May 2024 · 1 min

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Carolyn Bertozzi explains glycobiology by comparing the sugar coating on cells to an M&M shell. Her undergraduate professor dismissed it as mere protection, but research now shows cell surface sugars do far more, controlling how cells interact and communicate.

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And so the peanut M&M is still a good metaphor, because just like the surface of our cells, the peanut M&M has a sugar coating. And I learned about the sugars on our cells way back when I was an undergraduate, but very little was understood about the function of the cell's sugar coating. In fact, I remember taking a class as an undergraduate. It was a cell biology class, and our professor only had one thing to say about the sugar coating on our cells, and what he said is, oh, it's probably just like the M&M where it's a protective coating. And people of a certain age such as myself will remember that the peanut M&M is designed to melt in your mouth, but not in your hand. That's right. Now, it turns out