Glycomics is an up-and-coming field for the life sciences, proposed as a new concept after genomics and proteomics, with a focus on the structure and function of glycans. The purpose of this review is to provide a brief overview of research progress in the vital areas of glycomics, such as functional glycan structure, glycosylation and disease, and to suggest possible new insights for the next field of glycomics. Glycomics is an up-and-coming field for the life sciences, proposed as a new concept after genomics and proteomics, with a focus on the structure and function of glycans. The purpose of this review is to provide a brief overview of research progress in the vital areas of glycomics, such as functional glycan structure, glycosylation and disease, and to suggest possible new insights for the next field of glycomics.