This volume reviews the current metabolic engineering tools and technologies from a practical point of view, and guides researchers as they overcome challenges at various stages of organism and bioprocess development. Microbes have been engineered to produce a variety of industrial products such as fuels, basic chemicals, fine chemicals, nutritional supplements, and pharmaceutical intermediates, and new tools such as gene synthesis, advanced cloning techniques, ‘omics’ analysis, and mathematical modeling have greatly accelerated the pace of innovation in the field. Written by leading experts in the field from both academia and industry, key topics include synthetic biology, pathway engineering, metabolic flux manipulation, adaptive evolution, and fermentation process scale-up. It is suitable for non-specialists, and is a valuable resource for anyone embarking on the exciting path to harnessing the metabolic potential of microorganisms.