Leela Davies

 I work in the laboratory of Ajit Varki on the sialic acids Neu5Ac and Neu5Gc. In particular, I am interested in the suppression of Neu5Gc in the vertebrate brain, an evolutionarily conserved phenomenon that suggests Neu5Gc presence may be toxic. Humans have lost the ability to synthesize Neu5Gc since our last common ancestors with chimpanzees. If Neu5Gc is toxic to the vertebrate brain, its outright loss in humans may have implications for human brain development.