(374f) Global Optimization of Metabolic Reaction Networks

Modeling and analysis of metabolic networks have been central to research in systems biology, biotechnology, and medical sciences. The core methods in these investigations involve optimization methods which formulate a metabolic objective for the function of the metabolic networks (subject to constraints that are defined by the stoichiometry and the data from transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and physiology), and they analyze their properties under the optimal operation of these objectives. We will present a class of metabolic objectives and their formulations as global optimization problems. We will discuss how the solution of these problems can provide insights into the function of the metabolic networks and can guide the design of metabolic engineering and the identification of drug targets.