Theoretical and applied aspects of genome-scale metabolic modeling

Abstract

Living organisms are remarkable for their ability to replicate themselves, turning seemingly dead matter into teeming life. In order to understand the myriad complex processes that enable life to grow and flourish, we need to assemble, process, and organize massive amounts of information into an understandable format.

The work performed as part of this doctoral thesis has mainly been concerned with efforts toward improved modeling of bacterial metabolism, using genome-scale metabolic models as the tool. A key element, the biomass function, and its origin and consequences, has received special attention. This issue has been investigated using both computational and experimental laboratory approaches.