The Human Glycome Project

The Human Glycome Project (HGP) is led by a consortium of research groups that shares a common goal of aiming to define the structures and functions of human glycoconjugates. Completion of the human genome project opened multiple new opportunities to study and understand human health, but it also led to the realization that the genome is only one of the elements that control life, and that multiple additional layers of complexity exist. One of the most important elements of the complexity of life is protein glycosylation. It is the most intricate posttranslational modification of proteins and alterations in glycosylation microheterogeneity (differences in site-specific glycosylation) can have effects analogous to coding mutations. Without the knowledge about glycan structure and their impact on function it is impossible to understand the function of individual proteins or complex multiprotein and multicellular systems.