The Institute for Glycomics is one of Australia’s flagship multidisciplinary biomedical research institutes. Comprising over 200 multidisciplinary researchers and support staff, we strive to be world leaders in the discovery and development of next generation drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for diseases of global impact.

GlycoBuzz is the Institute for Glycomics’ educational blog, where our researchers and support staff cover interesting topics from their areas of research, or activity related to our industry, using language that’s easy for the general public to understand.

A vast range of topics, both broad and well-defined, are covered by our bloggers, providing useful information and answers to those questions you’ve probably always wanted to ask but never had the opportunity.

We hope you enjoy the content!

Latest posts

WHY SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED ABOUT ANTIBACTERIAL RESISTANCE?

Everyone’s heard of antibiotics. Most (if not all) people would have been prescribed with antibiotics by their health practitioner at some point in their lives to stave off an infection. But have you ever delved deeper into the subject of bacterial infections, antibiotics, antibacterials and antibacterial resistance? It can get quite interesting…and also quite concerning! Turns out, our researchers Professor Kate Seib, Dr Taha and Valentin Slesarenko, have quite an important message to share in this latest GlycoBuzz blog article. Read More

SOME OF THE WORLD’S WORST PANDEMICS

Pandemic. This is a word that’s become all too familiar in the last few years, thanks to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic which has sent the world into a state of turmoil. But in fact, pandemics have threatened mankind for time immemorial. In this blog article, Gael Martin, one of our PhD students at the Institute for Glycomics, discusses past and present pandemics, including some of the worst pandemics the world has ever seen. Not only is this information interesting and educational, but it also further emphasises the great importance of research to control and eradicate disease. Read More

THE SUBJECT NOBODY LIKES TO TALK ABOUT: GONORRHOEA

Let’s face it, nobody likes to discuss the topic of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), but there’s something about this disease that seems to make it particularly taboo. Gonorrhoea. I mean, could they have found a more unattractive word?! It’s also hard to pronounce, it’s longwinded, and it’s nearly impossible to spell. Yet here we are, making gonorrhoea our latest subject of choice for the GlycoBuzz blog. You may ask why? Well, it just so happens that we have good reason to shed light on the subject. This disease infects an estimated 87 million people worldwide each year! Read More

MOSQUITOES; THE DEADLIEST ANIMAL ON EARTH!

Did you know that mosquitoes kill more humans each year than any other animal? It is hard to believe that something so small can cause… Read More

HIV EXPLAINED

HIV remains to be a major global public health issue. According to the World Health Organization, HIV has claimed the lives of roughly 35 million… Read More

CORONAVIRUSES – A FAMILY OF VIRUSES

Coronavirus, COVID, COVID-19, ‘Corona’. These are all terms we wish we’d never have to hear mentioned again. And yet, they don’t seem to be going away anytime soon! So why not learn what we can about the subject, to better arm ourselves with facts and useful information rather than conspiracy theories. Interestingly, what you probably didn’t know, is that there are actually hundreds of coronaviruses out there, but only a few pose a risk to humans. Professor Johnson Mak, Research Leader and infectious diseases specialist at the Institute for Glycomics, takes us through the basics, helping us understand the significance of this seemingly large family of viruses. Read More

WHY THE WORLD NEEDS AN EFFECTIVE MALARIA VACCINE

Malaria is one of the deadliest diseases that has ever existed. Every year, there are over 200 million new cases of malaria infection and nearly… Read More

EPIDEMIOLOGY

When referring to the spread of diseases, we so often hear the terms outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics, but what do these terms actually mean and what are the differences between them? And who has the authority to ‘upgrade’ the threat level of a disease from an epidemic to a pandemic? Dr Benjamin Bailly, Research Scientist at the Institute for Glycomics, answers all these questions and more, providing a very interesting overview on epidemiology – the study and spread of diseases. Read More

USING NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY TO FIGHT DISEASES

The Institute for Glycomics houses a wide range of cutting-edge facilities which aid our research scientists in their ongoing quest to… Read More

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