ABSTRACT
Metabolic engineering (ME; see Table 20.1 for a complete list of acronyms used in this chapter) has been defined as the directed improvement of product formation or cellular properties through the modification of specific biochemical reactions or the introduction of new ones with the use of recombinant DNA technology (1,2). Therefore, the analysis and modification of metabolic pathways is of central importance to ME. The analytical part uses experimental and modeling techniques [e.g., labeling experiments, Metabolic Flux Analysis (MFA)], which allow the systematic study of cellular responses (in terms of metabolic fluxes) to genetic and environmental perturbations. This facilitates a rational design of metabolic modifications, which are implemented using recombinant DNA technology. Both fields, the analysis and the modification of metabolic pathways, will be covered in this chapter.
