Page 21 - The Miraculous Machine that Works for an Entire Lifetime: Enzyme

Adnan Oktar

ment where no enzymes are present, intense conditions—for example,

extreme heat or highly acidic or alkaline conditions, and large amounts
of what's known as activation energy are needed to break down a sub-
stance. In the laboratory, the production of activation energy depends
on very critical conditions, of which the most important is high tem-
perature. Yet inside the cell, thousands of reactions all take place at the
same time and activation energy cannot be provided by way of body
temperature, since the high temperatures needed would completely
damage all other functions taking place within the cell.
A cell exposed to high heat will lose all its cytoplasm and more-
over, heat would break down the hydrogen bonds, have a negative im-

pact on DNA replication and disable many other systems within the
cell. It is therefore impossible for the activation energy constantly re-
quired in the cell to be provided through heat. Enzymes are therefore
essential for reactions to take place inside living organisms without the
need for a rise in temperature, because they reduce the amount of acti-
vation energy such reactions need. Catalysis is the name given to the
process performed through the reduction in this energy. 5
Enzymes perform catalysis by establishing temporary unions with
the molecules they interact—but do not react—with. This temporary
union weakens existing chemical bonds and allows new ones to form,
allowing for a low level of energy to be used in order for the reaction to
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take place. In this way, enzymes accelerate the reactions they partici-
pate in by a factor of 1 million to 1 trillion times, in comparison to un-
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catalyzed reactions. In just one second, a single enzyme molecule may
catalyze tens of thousands of identical molecules. Processes that
chemists can perform only with the aid of high temperatures, reagents
and special equipment, are undertaken so easily and regularly by en-
zymes, with no need for any acids, special apparatus, extreme temper-
atures or long periods of time. They carry out their functions flawless-
ly in a fraction of a second by producing a very low level of heat. These

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