Abstract
The complete sequencing of about 20 genomes has opened a new era in biology. Amongst various other novel research opportunities due to this achievement there is now the possibility of delineating the metabolic maps for several organisms by “inverse genetics,” that is, by inferring the function of enzymes from the genes encoding them (cf. Bork et al., 1998). In the light of this development and promising biotechnological and medical aspects, there has recently been increasing interest in ways of understanding the architecture of cellular metabolism on a rational basis (cf. Heinrich & Schuster, 1996; Rohwer et al., 1996; Nuño et al., 1997; Stephanopoulos et al., 1998). The present contribution is a brief review of the state of the art in the structural (topological) analysis of metabolic networks, a field often referred to as pathway analysis. After a short account of various theoretical concepts, potential applications in biotechnology and medicine are outlined. Several situations where pathway analysis can tell us more about optimal metabolic routes than linear programming approaches are discussed.
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Schuster, S., Dandekar, T., Mauch, K., Reuss, M., Fell, D. (2000). Recent Developments in Metabolic Pathway Analysis and Their Potential Implications for Biotechnology and Medicine. In: Cornish-Bowden, A., Cárdenas, M.L. (eds) Technological and Medical Implications of Metabolic Control Analysis. NATO Science Series, vol 74. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4072-0_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4072-0_6
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