Rewiring pathways in microbes to produce fuels, drugs and chemicals.
Examples: E. coli and yeast producing insulin, biofuels (isobutanol), artemisinic acid and bioplastics. Tools: gene knockouts, heterologous pathways, flux balance modelling and CRISPR.
Strain design balances flux; toxic intermediates or burden may limit yield. Computational models guide gene edits.
Key idea: microbes can be reprogrammed to make useful chemicals.
Rewiring pathways in microbes to produce fuels, drugs and chemicals.
Metabolic Engineering is one of the 53 topics in Metabolism & Bioenergetics. It is rated Advanced, so it suits learners who want specialist depth. Related topics in this area include Systems Biology of Metabolism, Anabolism and Catabolism, Anaerobic Respiration in Prokaryotes.
Engineered yeast makes the precursor to the antimalarial artemisinin.
Work through the Beginner topics in Metabolism & Bioenergetics first, such as Metabolism, Anabolism and Catabolism, ATP, then return to Metabolic Engineering. Advanced topics assume the Intermediate vocabulary.
The closest topics to Metabolic Engineering are Systems Biology of Metabolism, Anabolism and Catabolism, Anaerobic Respiration in Prokaryotes, Metabolic Syndrome. Comparing them side by side is a good way to see how the ideas connect.
Read the summary and the in-depth section, then use the quick check on the interactive lesson for Metabolic Engineering. To practise the whole of Metabolism & Bioenergetics, use the Metabolism & Bioenergetics quiz.
Metabolic Engineering: Rewiring pathways in microbes to produce fuels, drugs and chemicals. Systems Biology of Metabolism: Genome-scale models predict growth and pathway usage under constraints. Read both side by side and note what each one explains.
First, read the summary and write the definition in your own words. Second, read the in-depth section and note any example. Third, compare it with Systems Biology of Metabolism and explain the difference aloud. Finally, take the Metabolism & Bioenergetics quiz and come back to this page for any question you miss.
Genome-scale models predict growth and pathway usage under constraints.
⚡ Metabolism & BioenergeticsAnabolic reactions build complex molecules using energy; catabolic reactions break them down to release energy.
⚡ Metabolism & BioenergeticsBacteria use alternative terminal acceptors such as nitrate or sulfate in the electron transport chain.
⚡ Metabolism & BioenergeticsA cluster of high blood pressure, insulin resistance, obesity and dyslipidaemia raising heart disease risk.
⚡ Metabolism & Bioenergetics