Controlling the ribosomal density profile in mRNA translation

During mRNA translation, the ribosomal density profile along the coding region of the mRNA molecule affects various fundamental intracellular phenomena. Thus, steering this profile from a given to a desired density is an important biological problem. This paper studies this problem using a dynamical model for mRNA translation, called the ribosome flow model (RFM), in which one views the transition rates along the mRNA molecule as controls.