Scientists of Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands have found the glycosylation of proteins in plants. Proteins in plants, animals and people are full of various sugar chains in a process known as glycosylation. The sugar chains are important to the functioning of many proteins. What's more, their identity and uniformity is crucial to the quality of therapeutic proteins.

The glycosylation of proteins in plants, people and animals principally consists of three stages. Primordially sugar chains are constructed, which then attach to the protein in specific locations. Finally, the sugar chains are further modified as specific sugars are attached to the chain. The scientists expect that this knowledge will allow plants to be applied more often in the production of therapeutic proteins, an important type of medicine.