Have the uses of enzymes in industry and medicine been a benefit to society?

Matthew Payne

Enzymes are biological catalysts and they speed up most chemical reactions without altering the final product. They are extremely important as without them most reactions in cells would be so slow that they would not really go ahead at all. Enzymes are proteins and they generally only work with one substrate. They work by providing an active site the same shape as the substrate molecules, they bind with the substrate and cause the reaction to speed up. At high temperatures (above 40ºC) their reaction rates slow and above 60ºC the reaction stops completely because they are deactivated by the heat (denatured). However usually an enzyme is not destroyed by the reaction it causes and can therefore be used again. (6)

Enzymes have a great number of uses from food processing to helping with medical diagnoses and treatments – for example enzymes are present in biological detergents as they help break down stains and enzymes are also important in the fermentation process used to produce antibiotics. (7)

One of the most well known uses of enzymes by industry is that of biological washing powders. The world’s first enzyme detergent was pioneered in 1913 by Dr Otto Rohn. Protease is an enzyme which acts to remove organic stains like sweat, blood or egg. It is now quite popular for manufacturers of washing powders to include several different types of enzymes like lipases and amylases to act on fats and oils and starch based stains. One of the positive sides to the use of enzymes in modern detergents is that they are designed to work at body temperatures, (37º C) and therefore work best at low temperatures. In fact over heating of enzymes causes them to denature which means the active sites on the enzymes change shape and so they cannot bond with the substrates, and are therefore ineffective. This means that modern biological washing powders work best below 40ºC and are therefore helping to save energy as water does need to be heated up to higher temperatures in order to get laundry clean. (1)

Detergents for automatic dishwashers are also now available with enzymes and these use amylase and protease to remove food particles and are also more environmentally friendly as they contain less bleaching agents and phosphates. (2)

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Another industry where enzymes have been extremely useful is the leather and tanning industry. Before the introduction of enzymes this industry was responsible for quite a lot of pollution which was the result of using calcium hydroxide and sodium sulphate to remove the animal hairs from the skins. Now a protease enzyme is used to help break down the keratin in hair roots and remove them from the skins with less damage to both the skins and the environment. Also enzymes are used to remove wool from sheepskins preserving the wool which is of use. Here again enzymes are seen to have a positive environmental impact. (1)

In cheese making the use of the genetically engineered enzyme Chymosin for the coagulation or setting of cheese has meant that cheese makers no longer need to rely on animal rennet taken from the stomachs of calves. This means that animal rights activists have less objection to this process of cheese making and also that some vegetarians can accept chymosin as an alternative to animal rennet. Chymosin is made by using bioengineering from calf cells, but some people do not agree with eating bio engineered foods. In some cases labelling is unclear and coagulating enzymes may be just called ‘enzymes’ or not mentioned at all on labels, making it difficult for consumers to tell what has been used in the processing of the cheese. (3) Many people may prefer not to buy cheese made using this process at all because there is not really enough understood about possible long term effects of using a genetically engineered enzyme, but producers of cheeses say that their products contain such small amounts by the end of the process that they are not a danger. (4)

The study and use of enzymes is a vital part of understanding the causes of diseases. Nearly all genetic diseases are due to a particular enzyme deficiency.

It is difficult to find out about the use of enzymes in treatments other than positive discoveries because pharmaceutical industries only report positive aspects and treatments and work quite secretly.

Sometimes enzymes are used as medicines to replace deficiencies for example treating haemophilia (a disease where blood fails to clot) with blood clotting factors or to degrade fibrin which is the opposite, fibrin is responsible for the formation of blood clots and protease can be used to prevent dangerous clots from forming. This can help in the treatment of deep vein thrombosis, which is blood clotting in veins and can lead to heart attacks when a clot moves through the vein to the heart. (2)

In the diagnosis of diabetes enzymes have again proved extremely useful to medical practitioners. When diabetics need to measure their glucose levels they place a drop of blood onto strips of paper which contain the enzyme glucose oxidase. This enzyme reacts with the glucose in the blood and the reactions cause a colour change in the paper that reflects the amount of glucose in the blood. This is therefore a very simple and effective cheap method of measuring glucose levels and monitoring these to ensure levels do not become too high or low. Many diabetics rely on these as a way of monitoring their own condition. (5)

Another way enzymes are used is in the treatment of lactose intolerance, which is a condition where people cannot tolerate milk or dairy products and usually develops with age. These people can be treated with lactase supplements to help the digest lactose by converting it into glucose and therefore reduce stomach upsets. (2)

In conclusion enzymes are now widely used in industry and in medicine for both diagnosis and treatment. In many cases in industry enzymes have replaced the need for less environmentally friendly products or procedures and have therefore made a significant contribution to the preservation of the environment, for example the energy savings from use of biological washing powders. However the use of genetically modified enzymes in the food industry is seen by some as unknown territory in terms of the future implications for human health.

In medicine enzymes are important in the treatment and diagnosis of patients and their uses are continually expanding.

It is clear that society has benefited in many ways from the uses of enzymes in industry and medicine.

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References

Indge B, Rowland M & Baker M (2000) A New Introduction to Biology Hodder & Stoughton: London
Roberts MBV (1986) Biology a functional approach Nelson: Surrey
New Scientist 15th November 1997 vol 156, issue 2108 ‘Growth industry – a new heart for an old this time from a pig not a human? A pharmacy full of drugs that have been brewed in a vat like beer? And new plants, new foods – all this and more in the pipeline from biotechnologists’.