Metabolic modeling: a tool of drug discovery in the post-genomic era

The Human Genome Project, DNA microarrays, proteome chips and metabolic profiles, among others, are generating unprecedented amounts of valuable information about the genetic and metabolic responses of organisms to stimuli. This wealth of information poses a great scientific challenge, namely the development of novel, effective methods for functional analysis and interpretation. It is proposed here that biomathematical systems models must accompany data generation and management. A particularly effective framework for this purpose is canonical modeling based on Biochemical Systems Theory. The key concept of this theory is the formulation of biological phenomena as systems of differential equations, in which all processes are represented as products of power-law functions.