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Encyclopedia of Physical Science and Technology en009I-422 July 6, 2001 19:57

Metabolic Engineering

Jens Nielsen
Technical University of Denmark

I. Background
II. Introduction
III. Molecular Biology Tools
IV. Metabolic Network Analysis
V. Metabolic Control Analysis
VI. Tools from Functional Genomics
VII. Applications of Metabolic Engineering
VIII. Future Directions

GLOSSARY ables quantification of the fluxes through the different
branches of the metabolic network within a given cell.
Bioinformatics The use of informatics to upgrade bio- Metabolic network The network of biochemical reac-
logical information, e.g., to identify genes in sequenced tions functioning within a given cell.
genomes, to predict protein structures, and to construct Proteome The total pool of different proteins present
whole cell models. within a given cell.
DNA arrays Glass slides or other surfaces where Transformationvector AcircularorlinearpieceofDNA
oligonucleotides or cDNA are fixed in very small spots. that can be used to insert a gene within a chromosome
The surface is organized in an array where each ele- or as a self-replicating piece of DNA within a given
ment in the array represents a specific oligonucleotide cell.
sequence. DNA arrays (or DNA chips) can be used to
quantify gene expression of many genes in parallel—
in some cases the expression of all genes within a METABOLIC ENGINEERING is the introduction of di-
genome. rected genetic changes with the aim of improving micro-
Functional genomics The science that aims at identify- bial, plant, or animal cells for the production of various
ing the function of genes with unknown function, often products. Besides genetic engineering, it involves detailed
referred to as orphan genes. physiological characterization of the cells, and many new
Heterologous gene A gene that is not naturally present experimental techniques have been developed in connec-
in the host, e.g., a human gene inserted in a bacteria is tion with metabolic engineering. These techniques aim at
a heterologous gene. obtainingasufficientlydetailedcharacterizationofthecel-
Metabolic flux analysis Analysis technique that en- lular function to identify targets for genetic improvements.

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