Research About Enzymes

Authors Avatar

RESEARCH ABOUT ENZYMES

Enzymes are biological catalysts, speeding up reactions without being changed themselves. Enzymes regulate most reactions that happen in living organisms. Without them, they would happen a lot slower. Enzymes catalyze all aspects of cell metabolism. This includes the digestion of food, in which large nutrient molecules (such as proteins, carbohydrates, and fats) are broken down into smaller molecules. Many inherited human diseases, such as albinism, result from a deficiency of a particular enzyme. Enzymes are also useful in industry and medicine – for example, bread making, beer brewing, helping wounds to heal and killing microorganisms that cause disease.

Enzymes are made of proteins, which are made of amino acids. They are efficient and specific – each type speeds up the rate of a reaction, but will only work on one kind of substrate. (The substrate is the chemical it acts on.) All cells contain enzymes, which usually vary in number and composition, depending on the cell type; an average mammal cell, for example, generally contains about 3,000 enzymes

Some enzymes help to break down large nutrient molecules, such as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, into smaller molecules. This process occurs during the digestion of foods in the stomach and intestines of animals. Some store or release energy, work in the processes of respiration, or build large and complex molecules from small and simple molecules. Genes, nerve impulses and hormones regulate which enzymes are to be made or activated. Diseases can occur when an enzyme is defective or deficient – for example, albinism, which is genetic, happens because the body cannot make an enzyme called tyrosinase which catalyzes part of the reaction that makes hair and eye pigments.

        The way enzymes work is known as the “lock and key” idea: like only one key can fit into one lock, only one digestive enzyme can break up a food substrate. (This applies to all enzymes, not just digestive enzymes). Each kind of enzyme will only work with one kind of substrate because of the molecule’s shape is designed only for one job.

        Enzyme activity is affected by many factors, such as: concentration of enzyme, concentration of substrate, pH, and temperature. They will only work at their best in certain conditions, and these conditions are slightly different for each type of enzyme.

Join now!

        Enzymes work better at higher temperatures, up to a certain point. This is to do with Kinetic Theory. Each atom has a bit of Kinetic energy so it moves around. When substances are heated up, the atoms gain energy. The more energy atoms have, the more they bump into each other. Atoms that react with each other are more likely to react quickly if they are heated together, because then they move around more, bump into each other sooner, and react (they can only react when they meet each other), so an enzyme is more likely to react with a ...

This is a preview of the whole essay