Metabolism Investigation and Manipulation
For this assignment, I chose the article” Metabolism Investigation and Manipulation” by Dr. Ananya Mandal, MD. Metabolism is the biochemical process by which a body derives energy and synthesizes other molecules from proteins, carbohydrates, and fats through enzymatic reactions. Cellular metabolism is defined as the biochemical reactions present in a metabolic network. Metabolic pathways are the functional units of a metabolic system. A pathway involves all the biochemical reactions that yield end products. Genes usually code for enzymes and proteins active in these metabolic pathways. Faulty enzymes in metabolic pathways influence diseases’ development; therefore, the investigation and manipulation of these pathways will help eradicate these diseases (Dr. Ananya Mandal).
Metabolic pathways are either anabolic or catabolic. Anabolic pathways involve building molecules with energy use, while catabolic pathways involve breaking molecules with energy loss. All reactions in a pathway involve enzymes that catalyze the reactions (Dr. Ananya Mandal). An alteration within a single response in a path leads to the development of disorders. Faulty enzymes or imbalances can introduce this change in the reaction. Investigation of the ways is carried out to understand in depth the metabolism.
Different investigation tools are used in the investigation of the pathways. The first investigation tool is the assessment of the end products of ways. The end products of ways such as glycolysis are pyruvate, two molecules of ATP, and NADH. Moreover, glycolysis aims to generate energy from ATP and carbon skeletons functional in biosynthesis. When the end product is altered, the purpose of the pathway will not be met. When the goal of the path is unmet, the body reacts, and disorders arise. Therefore, assessing the end products of a course helps investigate metabolism.
The second tool is the use of radioactive tracers to investigate metabolism. The radioactive tracers will trace the pathway reactions from the precursors until the end products are released. The enzymes that catalyze those reactions and the inhibitors are exposed as the biochemical reactions are traced. This exposure will clarify how the reaction occurs, the responses to enzymes and inhibitors’ presence, and how fast it happens. Tracers can be used at cellular levels, tissue levels, and even on the organism’s whole body.
The third tool is the identification of metabolomes. Metabolomes are the complete complements of small molecules in cells, tissues, or organisms. Metabolomes influence some pathways; therefore, identifying the metabolomes that participate in ways will help investigate the paths. Changes in these pathways also lead to diseases; therefore, identifying metabolomes and understanding their role in developing conditions will help shed light on metabolic pathways. However, these tools are ineffective in investigating metabolism in complex systems due to many different enzymes and complex networks.
Metabolism manipulation involves the manipulation of the metabolic pathways. After the investigation of the paths, manipulation of the tracks begins. Disorders and diseases arise from different changes within a course. Consequently, some of these changes result from faulty genes and proteins. These defective genes that code for enzymes that catalyze different reactions can be genetically edited through gene therapy to remove or replace faulty genes with better genes. Subsequently, this genetic editing of the genes will prevent or correct the development of disorders and diseases. Moreover, these genes play an essential role in metabolic pathways; restoring the faulty genes will remove the probability of disorders development.
The other mode of manipulation, besides gene therapy, is metabolic engineering. Metabolic engineering involves altering and modifying an organism’s metabolic pathways by introducing genes using Recombinant DNA technology, which introduces path alteration. Through Biotechnology, metabolic engineering becomes a success. The result of metabolic engineering is an organism with all desirable properties. Furthermore, with metabolic engineering, faulty genes and enzymes can be removed from the system and replaced with genes with better repercussions, correcting disorders developing or already developed in an organism. This correction in the metabolic pathways leads to development of an organism with desirable characteristics.
Metabolic engineering is used to yield chemical transformation. By altering metabolic pathways, metabolic engineering helps us understand cellular pathways. Subsequently, with the understanding of cellular pathways, the pathways and their end products can be exploited. This exploitation will lead to the production of large volumes of the desired end products. Manipulation of organisms such as yeast and bacteria is used in the industrial field to promote end-product production, which may be drugs such as antibiotics and chemicals such as shikimic acid.
Mechanical engineering aims to produce a large volume of chemical products using the least energy needed and the output from simple and inexpensive materials such as yeast or bacteria. The introduction of the combination of different enzymes and pathways into another organism gives the organism new functions that yield larger volumes of end products and reduce waste production. With this objective in mind, metabolic engineering meets the goals of all its advancements.
In conclusion, investigating and manipulating metabolic processes helps correct disorders and provides a more effective drug production method. Dr. Ananya Mandal, MD, describes the metabolic engineering process and its importance and advantages in Biotechnology and Industrial chemistry.
Reference
Dr. Ananya Mandal, MD. “Metabolism Investigation And Manipulation.” News-Medical.Net, 2021, https://www.news-medical.net/life-sciences/Metabolism-Investigation-and-Manipulation.aspx.
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Question 
1. Identify an article that has appeared in a print periodical OR reputable science/news website since January 1st of 2018 that is related, at least loosely, in some way to the subject matter of the module (e.g., life, energy, nutrition, genetics, climate change, bioethics, biotechnology, etc.). This should be a news article. DO NOT use a textbook or “encyclopedia”-type source.
Metabolism Investigation and Manipulation
2. Briefly summarize the article, describing direct and indirect connections to course topics/discussions.
3. Briefly describe TWO implications/applications implied, surfaced, and discussed in the article and their significance.
4. Include descriptions of TWO critical questions raised in/by the article.