'''Glycan arrays''',<ref name="Carbohydrate Microarrays">{{cite journal|vauthors=Carroll GT, Wang D, Turro NJ, Koberstein JT|title=Photochemical Micropatterning of Carbohydrates on a Surface|journal=Langmuir|date=2006|volume=22|issue=6 |pages=2899–2905|doi=10.1021/la0531042|pmid=16519501 }}</ref> like that offered by the [[Consortium for Functional Glycomics]] (CFG), [[National Center for Functional Glycomics]] (NCFG) and Z Biotech, contain [[carbohydrate]] compounds that can be screened with [[lectin]]s, [[antibodies]] or [[cell receptor]]s to define carbohydrate specificity and identify [[ligand]]s. Glycan array screening works in much the same way as other microarrays used, for instance, to study gene expression ([[DNA microarrays]]) or protein interaction ([[protein microarray]]s).
Glycan arrays are composed of various [[oligosaccharide]]s and [[polysaccharide]]s immobilized on a solid support in a spatially- defined arrangement.<ref name="Glycan arrays: recent advances and future challenges">{{cite journal|vauthors=Oyelaran O, Gildersleeve JC|title=Glycan arrays: recent advances and future challenges|journal=Curr Opin Chem Biol|date=Oct 2009|volume=13|issue=4|pages=406–413|doi=10.1016/j.cbpa.2009.06.021|pmid=19625207|pmc=2749919 }}</ref> This technology provides the means of studying [[glycan–protein interaction]]s in a [[high-throughput biology|high-throughput]] environment. These natural or synthetic (see [[carbohydrate synthesis]]) glycans are then incubated with any glycan-binding protein such as lectins, [[cell surface receptor]]s or possibly a whole organism such as a [[virus]]. Binding is quantified using [[fluorescence]]-based detection methods. Certain types of glycan microarrays can even be re-used for multiple samples using a method called microwave assisted wet-erase.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mehta |first1=Akul Y |last2=Tilton |first2=Catherine A |last3=Muerner |first3=Lukas |last4=von Gunten |first4=Stephan |last5=Heimburg-Molinaro |first5=Jamie |last6=Cummings |first6=Richard D |title=Reusable glycan microarrays using a microwave assisted wet-erase (MAWE) process |journal=Glycobiology |date=14 November 2023 |volume=34 |issue=2 |doi=10.1093/glycob/cwad091 |pmid=37962922|pmc=10969520 }}</ref>
