Carbohydrates have long been underappreciated by the scientific community, and many scientists approach the complex structures and elaborate nomenclature of carbohydrates with trepidation. Like amino acids and nucleic acids, sugars are abundant in nature: many natural products contain oligosaccharides that are vital for their biological activity, and carbohydrates have key roles in a broad range of biological processes, including signal transduction and immune responses.

Although fewer scientists work with carbohydrates than with other biopolymers, researchers in this field have been prolific. Chemists and biochemists have developed new methods to rapidly synthesize oligosaccharides, enabling them to generate complex polysaccharides and analogues of natural products that have increased activity in vivo. Biologists have explored the physiological roles of various sugars, discovering that many have essential roles in all of the major organ systems and are involved in several disease states. In addition to extending our knowledge of how the natural world works, these findings have been used to develop carbohydrate-based drugs and vaccines, some of which show great promise for treating or preventing various diseases, including malaria, cancer and AIDS.

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