Research Interests:
Research in my laboratory focuses on the causes and consequences of glycan evolution.Glycans provide much of the natural molecular diversity found in natural populations. Such diversity exists within individuals (among different cell and tissue types), between individuals (such as in ABO blood group polymorphisms) and between species (such as the alpha-Gal and Neu5Gc sialic acid xeno-antigens, absent from humans but present in many other mammals). My interest is in understanding the mechanisms responsible for the evolution and maintenance of such diversity. My particular interest is in exploring the potential functions of such diversity in protecting populations from pathogens and in contributing to reproductive incompatibility within species and reproductive isolation between species.
Keywords: Glycan evolution, sialic acids, reproduction, sperm glycocalyx, host-pathogen evolutionay arms races, glycan diversity, glycan polymorphism, reproductive compatibility, viral lectin/ hemagglutinin
Track(s):
MCB
Microbiology/Immunology
BMS Focus Areas:
Glycobiology
|
News