Enzyme Catalysis

Enzymes are complex protein molecules built around elaborate, precisely-folded three-dimensional structures, and it is this structure — not their chemical formula alone — that lets them catalyse the specific biochemical reactions occurring inside living organisms. Enzymes are frequently found in a colloidal state within the cell, and they are extremely specific in their catalytic action: each enzyme, synthesised within a particular living cell, is generally capable of catalysing only one particular reaction (or a very narrow family of closely related reactions). …