How Does GeneHunter Work?

GeneHunter operates by automatically changing the number of servings of food from each food group in Column E in order to minimize the budget constraint in cell G15, the ‘Fitness Function' cell.

The Fitness Function cell G15 calculates the entire cost of the camping food budget by summing up the total cost of servings in each food group in column G.  The total cost of servings for each food group is calculated by multiplying the number of servings in column E by the cost per serving in column F, and then multiplying that value by 20 to account for the total number of people in the group.

Although only one Fitness Function cell is allowed, GeneHunter is able to work with subgoals when finding an optimum solution.  Diet quality plays a role in finding the optimum solution through the use of a constraint.  You set these constraints by opening the GeneHunter main dialog screen in Excel.

To open the GeneHunter dialog screen:

1.  Select the Tools menu from Excel.

2.  Select the GeneHunter Option.

3.  Select "Start".  The GeneHunter dialog box is displayed.

Note:  If GeneHunter is not listed in the Excel Tools menu, make sure that you have installed GeneHunter correctly.  The file GENEHUNT.XLA adds the GeneHunter item to the Tools menu.  If GeneHunter is not listed in the Tools Menu, select Add-Ins from the Tools Menu and click on the check box beside GeneHunter.  See Chapter 1 for details on how to load GENEHUNT.XLA.

Tutorial Step 2