enzymes

• organisms needs enzymes because most chemical reactions are slow
• why don't we increase the temperature of our cells to increase the rate of chemical reactions:

  • heating cells require a lot of energy
  • higher temperatures can damage our cells
  • higher temperatures would speed up non useful reactions
• catalyst:

  • speeds up a reaction without being use up
• enzyme:

  • special type of catalyst
  • we call them biological catalysts
• special region that binds to the substrate:

  • active site
• lock and key:

  • in order for an enzyme to catalyse a reaction, the substrate had to fit perfectly into the active site