Predicting biological system objectives de novo from internal state measurements.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Optimization theory has been applied to complex biological systems to interrogate network properties and develop and refine metabolic engineering strategies. For example, methods are emerging to engineer cells to optimally produce byproducts of commercial value, such as bioethanol, as well as molecular compounds for disease therapy. Flux balance analysis (FBA) is an optimization framework that aids in this interrogation by generating predictions of optimal flux distributions in cellular networks. Critical features of FBA are the definition of a biologically relevant objective function (e.g., maximizing the rate of synthesis of biomass, a unit of measurement of cellular growth) and the subsequent application of linear programming (LP) to identify fluxes through a reaction

SUBMITTER: Gianchandani EP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2258290 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature