ABSTRACT
The impetus behind the development of glycome informatics was the construction of large-scale databases for storing a comprehensive dataset of glycan structure data. Originally, the Complex Carbohydrate Structure Database (CCSD) (Doubet et al. (1989)) was developed at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center at the University of Georgia in the 1990’s. This database became better known as CarbBank, which was the name of the tool to perform queries on CCSD. The database was discontinued in the mid-90’s, but the data was still made available to the public and thus became the foundation for other glycan structure databases that followed. In terms of glycome informatics, the first group to develop computer-theory-based algorithms for carbohydrate structures was KEGG. Before then, GLYCOSCIENCES.de had accumulated carbohydrate data from both CarbBank and PDB, along with experimental information such as mass spectra. Furthermore, the Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG) started their own database of glycan structures to be associated with their experimental data as well.
