Abstract IgE antibodies to carbohydrate epitopes on aller-gens are thought to be less common than IgE anti-bodies to protein epitopes and also of much less clinical signicance. Our recent work, however, has identied a novel IgE antibody response to a mammalian oligosaccharide epitope, galactose- alpha-1,3-galactose (alpha-gal). IgE to alpha-gal has been associated with two distinct forms of anaphy-laxis including delayed allergic reactions a”er eat-ing beef, pork or lamb. IgE antibody responses to alpha-gal have now been found globally. erefore, establishing the mechanism of the specic IgE antibody response to alpha-gal will be an important aspect to address as this area of research continues.