Metabolic engineering
Metabolic Engineering
Metabolic engineering is the practice of optimizing genetic and regulatory processes within cells to increase the cells' production of a certain substance. These processes involve the use of recombinant DNA technology, molecular biology, and biochemistry.
Pronunciation
Metabolic: /mɛtəˈbɒlɪk/ Engineering: /ˌɛndʒɪˈnɪərɪŋ/
Etymology
The term "metabolic" is derived from the Greek word "metabole" which means change, and "engineering" is derived from the Latin word "ingeniare" which means to design or devise.
Definition
Metabolic engineering is a multidisciplinary field of study that uses engineering principles to analyze and manipulate the metabolic pathways within an organism, with the goal of optimizing the production of certain substances. This field is a subset of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering.
Related Terms
- Metabolism: The chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life.
- Enzyme: A substance produced by a living organism which acts as a catalyst to bring about a specific biochemical reaction.
- Genetic Engineering: The deliberate modification of the characteristics of an organism by manipulating its genetic material.
- Biotechnology: The exploitation of biological processes for industrial and other purposes, especially the genetic manipulation of microorganisms for the production of antibiotics, hormones, etc.
Applications
Metabolic engineering has a wide range of applications in various fields such as pharmaceuticals, biofuels, specialty chemicals, and agriculture. It is used to produce high-value compounds, improve crop yield, and develop new methods for disease treatment.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Metabolic engineering
- Wikipedia's article - Metabolic engineering
This WikiMD dictionary article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.
Languages: - East Asian
中文,
日本,
한국어,
South Asian
हिन्दी,
Urdu,
বাংলা,
తెలుగు,
தமிழ்,
ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian
Indonesian,
Vietnamese,
Thai,
မြန်မာဘာသာ,
European
español,
Deutsch,
français,
русский,
português do Brasil,
Italian,
polski