Developing a less invasive test for inflammatory bowel disease

Millions of Americans have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which occurs in one of two forms: Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. Though the two have similar symptoms, they require different treatment strategies, and tests to distinguish between them are invasive. Researchers now show that chains of sugar molecules are tacked onto antibodies differently in patients with the diseases, which could someday lead to a simple blood-based diagnostic test.