A deeper look into the apparent self-defense mechanisms of these bacteriophage-resistant bacteria revealed their secret weapon: a group of enzymes called restriction endonucleases, or restriction ...

How does your body speed up these important reactions? The answer is enzymes. Enzymes in our bodies are catalysts that speed up reactions by helping to lower the activation energy needed to start a ...

Enzymes lower the activation energy necessary to transform a reactant into a product. On the left is a reaction that is not catalyzed by an enzyme (red), and on the right is one that is (green).

Note: this practical uses the temperature of 35°C. This is close to body temperature. Warmer temperatures may denature the enzymes and the reaction will take longer at lower temperatures.

Enzymes are also involved in the building up of chemical molecules elsewhere in the body. In an organism, the active site of each enzyme is a different shape. It is a perfect match to the shape of ...