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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Researchers from the Department of Chemical Engineering [phys.org] at Penn State have developed a two-step workflow to optimize metabolic networks for the production of chemical products and biofuels.

The computational procedure, termed "optStoic," aims to provide creative designs for converting carbon substrates from renewable sources such as glucose and glycerol and gases such as methane, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, into valuable chemical products and biofuels. The procedure works by combining existing biological pathways in ways that have not been thought of before.

"The key idea is not to focus too early on any particular combination of substrates or products," said Costas D. Maranas, Donald B. Broughton Professor of Chemical Engineering. "Instead, you must first determine the best strategy given the available substrates and possible products without violating any mass, energy or thermodynamic balances."

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