Evolutionary algorithms for finding gen knockout targets

Abstract

The organic chemical industry is primarily based on fossil raw materials. An alternative is the use of industrial biotechnology which is based on microorganisms that produce the needed substances as a part of their metabolism from renewable raw materials. Metabolic engineering is a technique to increase the production of the desired products through genetic modifications. The needed modifications are not trivial and no algorithm is currently known. Therefore this paper investigates the use of evolutionary algorithms for finding genetic modifications. The production of polyhydroxybutyrate out of methanol by Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 is examined as an example. The proposed evolutionary algorithm is able to find a modification with 15 knockouts that increases the production of polyhydroxybutyrate by a factor of 294 at 0.6-fold biomass growth rate.