Question

Write an introductory paragraph about enzymes, identifying what they are, how they function, and why they are important. Discuss the optimal conditions for enzymes. Why is enzyme structure important and how is structure linked to function

Answer 1

Enzymes are protein molecules which acts as a cataylst in many biochemical reactions that occurs in a living being. The enzymes catalyze the reactions by lowering the activation energy of the reaction and are specific to a each reactions they take part in. They're important because they catalyze many reaction in the human body such as digestion of carbohydrates, proteins, fats etc and had the enzymes been absent the digestive reaction would have proceeded very slowly or wouldn't proceed at all. The optimal conditions differ from enzymes to enzymes and the optimal conditions help the enzyme to attain the maximum turnover number i.e. maximum number of substrate converted into product per unit time, per molecule of enzyme. The optimal temperature of most digestive enzymes is around 37 degrees celsius whereas the optimal temperature of Taq polymerase is around 70 to 72 degrees celsius. Enzyme structure is important as they are proteins and the active site need to be on proper conformation so that the substrate can easily bind to the active site. The structure of the active site can be damaged by denaturing the enzyme and thus denaturing the protein by subjecting it to high temperature and high pH.

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