Glycobiology. Exciting new research is revealing thatcarbohydrates are not simple âfood moleculesâ. They also
play vital roles in interesting biological processes like animalembryo development, immunology, and viral
infections. From this research, a new field has emerged calledâglycobiologyâ. Perhaps the best characterized
glycoproteins and glycolipids are those that determine human ABOblood groups (see page 335 of your textbook).
A) ABO blood types differ by one sugar residue, attached to theplasma membrane of blood cells. Identify that
sugar which differs between the A, B and O blood types.
B) Explain why people with O-type blood can donate blood torecipients with A- or B-type blood. (You may
need to do some additional reading, using reliable Internetsources.)
Glycobiology. Exciting new research is revealing thatcarbohydrates are not simple âfood moleculesâ. They also
play vital roles in interesting biological processes like animalembryo development, immunology, and viral
infections. From this research, a new field has emerged calledâglycobiologyâ. Perhaps the best characterized
glycoproteins and glycolipids are those that determine human ABOblood groups (see page 335 of your textbook).
A) ABO blood types differ by one sugar residue, attached to theplasma membrane of blood cells. Identify that
sugar which differs between the A, B and O blood types.
B) Explain why people with O-type blood can donate blood torecipients with A- or B-type blood. (You may
need to do some additional reading, using reliable Internetsources.)
