Flux balance analysis models a cell's whole metabolism as a network under steady-state mass balance, then solves for the flux distribution that maximizes an objective like growth or product yield.
max biomass s.t. Sv=0, 0<=v_i<=v_max_i (flux balance analysis)
- Metabolite nodes — intermediate compounds (glucose, pyruvate, ATP...) exchanged between reactions.
- Reaction connectivity — how branched the metabolic network is — how many alternative routes exist between two metabolites.
- Nutrient uptake rate — how fast the cell imports its limiting carbon/nitrogen source.
- Enzyme capacity limit — the maximum flux each reaction can carry, set by enzyme abundance and kinetics.
This is exactly the flux-balance-analysis approach metabolic engineers use to redesign E. coli or yeast strains for industrial fermentation, predicting which gene knockouts reroute flux toward a target product like a biofuel.