Please click on the POD button to listen to the latest Impact of Glycomics Radio show podcast broadcasting live each Wednesday at 11am EDT from Atlanta, GA, USA.
This Morning we interviewed Dr Clark.
Dr Clark Received his Ph. D. in biochemistry form Wake Forest University in 1982. He then pursued postdoctoral fellowships at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and Virginia Tech studying tumor biology and glycobiology. Since 1996, Dr. Clark has devoted the major part of his efforts to investigating a hypothetical model explaining how sperm, eggs, and the fetus are shielded from immune responses. This system of protection is based on the attachment of carbohydrate “tags� that can turn off many different types of immune response. Unfortunately, HIV-1, worm parasites (schistosomes), bacteria that can cause stomach ulcers (heliobacter Pylori), aggressive tumor cells, and other agents that can make us sick (pathogens) either duplicate or acquire these tags, thus enabling them to resist the immune response. Therefore Gary and his collaborators believe that AIDS, cancer, and many other persistent pathological states in humans and other mammals are largely unexplained glycobiological diseases.
Today’s interview with Dr. Clark was an incredible insight into the world of Cancer, HIV-1, pathogens, and the Gametes of Human beings. Dr. Clark shared with us that, amazingly, the same carbohydrate sequences that protect the gametes from immune response are responsible for the proliferation of pathogens within an immune environment not conducive to their survival. He went on to say that by understanding that the same molecules protect gametes and pathogens, he and other researchers can go on to finding the solution to the problem. If you would like to know what the “OFF BUTTON� is, and would like to know why it’s important to turn the “Off Button OFF�, thenDr. Clarks interview is a must! During the interview we referenced articles of importance: Here are the links to those articles.
Also if you know of a Research Scientist that we should know about please email Joseph McKenna at McKenna @ Impactofglycomics .com and we will try and get him or her on the show.
