Model Approach for Biotechnology and Bioengineering

To what extent is industrial biotechnological process optimally designed? Do the biological entities (enzymes, cells) involved in the biotechnological process operate efficiently? What could be done to improve the efficacy? Answers to the questions are often not quite simple. Primarily, it is dictated by large-scale and expensive experimental investigations characterizing phenomenon from various positions. However, it is only one side of the problem because results of these investigations should be integrated in the sole description and correctly interpreted to address the questions posed.

The first part of the problem does not usually cause any complications, because lots of experimental information characterizing different biotechnological subjects (strains, enzymes or fermenters) has been collected and published. However, the other part of the problem consisting of integration and interpretation of the data could have serious troubles. For address the issue we propose to apply methods of computational systems biology to analyze  biotechnological experimental data.

Model approach allows us to solve such problems as:

• Development of mutation programs for strain improvement.
• Development of control systems  increasing bioreactors efficacy.
• Prediction of optimal conditions required for improvement of biotechnological process
• Simulation of response of biotechnological processes to strain modifications and/or change of culture conditions.
• Development of the programmes for improvement of the recombinant protein expression systems.

By this day we have developed mathematical models of the most biotechnologically important objects in our Institute. So, we have models of metabolic pathways and systems of:

• Escherichia coli
• Corynebacterium glutamicum
• Saccharomyces cerevisiae