page_title: Flux balance analysis
section_title: Metabolic network and software tools
hierarchical_section_title: Flux balance analysis / Model preparation and refinement / Metabolic network and software tools
caption_attribution_description: English: Preparation of the first six reactions in the Glycolysis metabolic pathway for Flux balance analysis
context_page_description: Flux balance analysis is a mathematical method for simulating metabolism in genome-scale reconstructions of metabolic networks. In comparison to traditional methods of modeling, FBA is less intensive in terms of the input data required for constructing the model. Simulations performed using FBA are computationally inexpensive and can calculate steady-state metabolic fluxes for large models in a few seconds on modern personal computers.
  FBA finds applications in bioprocess engineering to systematically identify modifications to the metabolic networks of microbes used in fermentation processes that improve product yields of industrially important chemicals such as ethanol and succinic acid. It has also been used for the identification of putative drug targets in cancer and pathogens, rational design of culture media, and host–pathogen interactions. The results of FBA can be visualized using flux maps similar to the image on the right, which illustrates the steady-state fluxes carried by reactions in glycolysis. The thickness of the arrows is proportional to the flux through the reaction.
context_section_description: Metabolic networks can vary in scope from those describing a single pathway, up to the cell, tissue or organism. The main requirement of a metabolic network that forms the basis of an FBA-ready network is that it contains no gaps. This typically means that extensive manual curation is required, making the preparation of a metabolic network for flux-balance analysis a process that can take months or years.  However, recent advances such as so-called gap-filling methods can
  reduce the required time to weeks or months.
  Software packages for creation of FBA models include Pathway Tools/MetaFlux, Simpheny,  and MetNetMaker.
  Generally models are created in BioPAX or SBML format so that further analysis or visualization can take place in other software although this is not a requirement.
caption: The first six reactions in Glycolysis prepared for FBA through the addition of an objective function (red) and the import and export of nutrients (ATP, ADP, BDG, ADG) across the system boundary (dashed green line).[1]
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