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LSC-30065 - Module Specification
School of Life Sciences
Faculty of Natural Sciences

For academic year: 2025/26 Last Updated: 04 December 2025

LSC-30065 - Medical Glycobiology (Level 6)
Coordinator: Mark Skidmore Room: Hux168 Tel: +44 1782 7 33945
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 6
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 734414

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

LSC-20072

Description for 2025/26

Carbohydrates are a major class of biologically relevant molecules with growing clinical importance.
In this module, you will investigate the structure, biosynthesis, and biochemistry of medically significant carbohydrates, and explore their roles across a range of medical challenges. Examples may include cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, prion disorders, malaria, HIV, and influenza.
You will also examine the emerging field of glycomics, focusing on current and upcoming analytical techniques and their potential applications in diagnostics and therapeutic development.
As part of the module, you will attend an in-house Glycobiology Conference featuring talks and posters from leading academics and early-career researchers. You will then produce a concise, news-style conference report modelled on professional scientific highlights, developing skills in critical analysis, synthesis, and scientific communication.

Aims
The overarching aim of this module is to provide students with a working knowledge of the core concepts of Glycobiology. The module will consist of two parts, one covering the basic science underpinning the field of glycobiology and how this can be of relevance to biological and medical sciences, the second covering physiological and pathological states of medical relevance that may present in relation to changes in the structure and function of carbohydrates.

Intended Learning Outcomes

recall and explain carbohydrate nomenclature and terminology: 1,2
recognise and discuss the structure and/or properties of biologically relevant carbohydrates: 1,2
describe the biosynthesis for the major glycan classes: 1,2
discuss the key role that carbohydrates play in biological recognition: 1,2
explain how glycosylation may alter the physicochemical properties and function(s) of other biomolecules: 1,2
examine the role of carbohydrates in both physiologic and pathologic states: 1,2
explore, interpret and evaluate complex scientific outputs and data sets: 1,2
appraise carbohydrate-based molecules as potential therapeutics with reference to appropriate scientific literature: 1,2
assimilate, critically appraise and communicate key content and concepts of glycoscience to both general and specialist audiences: 1,2

Study hours

12 hours workshops
8 hours seminars and tutorials
2 hours lectures
4 hours conference
14 hours asynchronous lecture material
110 hours independent study, preparation for sessions, and preparation for assessments.

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Report weighted 50%
News-style conference report (1,000 words)
A concise, news-style feature is to be produced, summarising the principal themes and selected highlights of a Glycobiology Conference convened as part of this module. The piece will adopt the tone, style, and selectivity characteristic of short “Conference Highlights” articles published in leading professional journals (e.g. Nature Reviews). The article will: Commence with a succinct overview identifying the central themes and prevailing trends of the meeting. Present focused, critical coverage of at least three selected items (from oral and poster presentations). Be directed toward an informed scientific readership who did not attend the event. Maintain selectivity, clarity, and precision in scientific communication throughout.

2: Presentation weighted 50%
Evaluate, summarise and present a journal article to a general audience (submission within 28-hrs of content release).
A journal article (of relevance to the content covered during the module) that will form the scientific content for the student's commentary (recorded oral presentation) will be released on the KLE as a pdf document 28 hours prior to the submission deadline for their recorded presentation. Students will be expected to prepare and present a recorded commentary that evaluates and summarises the scientific content and findings of the journal article to a general audience. This assessment is based on real-word situations, where embargoed journal articles will often be released to academics/scientists for media comment within a short timescale (frequently less than 24 hours).

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 04 December 2025