Design and construction of artificial metabolic pathways for the bioproduction of useful compounds

To efficiently produce useful compounds using biological cells, it is essential to optimally design all metabolic reactions and pathways, including not only the flow of carbon within the cell but also the production and consumption of energy and the balance of oxidation-reduction. Computational scientific methods are effective for the rational design of metabolic pathways and the optimization of metabolic fluxes. Based on this blueprint, it is crucial to accurately construct the cell, test and analyze whether it conforms to the design, and learn from the results to redesign the system in an effective cycle. This review introduces essential metabolic design techniques in synthetic biology and discusses the potential of using plant cells or plant genes effectively in synthetic biology for the production of useful compounds.