Enzymes

Enzymes

1. Cells have thousands of different chemical reactions going on inside them all the time

   • Respiration
     • Respiration releases energy for cells from glucose. This can be aerobic respiration, which needs oxygen, or anaerobic respiration, which does not.
   • Photosynthesis
     • Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organised to convert light energy, normally from the Sun, into energy that can be later released to fuel the organisms activities.
   • Protein Synthesis
     • The production of proteins in a cell using base pairs.
   • These reactions need to be carefully controlled- to get the right amounts of substance and keep the organism working properly.
     • You can usually make a reaction happen more quickly by raising the temperature. This would speed up the useful reactions but also the unwanted ones too... not good. There's also a limit to how far you can raise the temperature inside a living creature before the cells start to get damaged,
       • So living things produce Enzymes, which act as biological catalysts. A catalyst is a substance that speeds up a reaction, without being changed or used up in the reaction itself.
         • Enzymes reduce the need for high temperatures and we only have enzymes to speed up the useful chemical reactions in the body.
           • Every different biological reaction has its own enzyme designed especially for it.
             • Each enzyme is coded for by a different gene, and has a unique shape, which it needs to do its job.