Sugars, also referred to as carbohydrates, aren’t just substances we add to make coffee taste less bitter or food sweeter; they are an entire class of molecules necessary for life. The study of these carbohydrates is called glycobiology. Dr. John Hanover is a glycobiologist and the chief of the laboratory of cell and molecular biology at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). His work is advancing scientists’ understanding of the sugar structures responsible for rare diseases and genetic transgenerational inheritance.