Glycobiology is the science of cellular communication and signalling through both simple and sophisticated carbohydrates. All cells use these carbohydrate-based communication pathways. Our lab wants to understand how these molecular interactions happen, and how we can make use of them to develop new ways to treat diseases, and to figure out how biology uses these interesting molecules for so many purposes!
The Wakarchuk lab specializes in using enzymes to make sophisticated carbohydrates, and we use biochemistry and synthetic biology to address this research area. We have projects in both fundamental glycoscience as well as applied projects.
The Wakarchuk lab is always looking for interested students at all levels – undergraduates at every level are most welcome in the group. Students in Biology, Chemistry, or Biochemistry will all play a part in our group.
The Wakarchuk lab is part of the Canadian Glycomics Network which is a Canadian research network dedicated to GlycoScience.