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Examples Of Signs Leading To Faith
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the cell. Their larger regions consist of proteins, whereas the
rest consist of vitamins and vitamin-like substances. If these
enzymes did not exist, the body could not function. At the
least, the body’s functions would slow down almost to the
stopping point. In either case, the person would die due to his
or her inability to breathe, eat, digest, or speak. In short, life as
we know it would be impossible.
The enzymes’ most important task is to initiate, halt, and
accelerate various chemical reactions in the body. As the cells
carry out their functions, the chemicals within them undergo
certain reactions that require the presence of high tempera-
tures to get started. But such high temperatures threaten and
even kill cells. This is where enzymes become essential.
Enzymes, which undergo no chemical reactions them-
selves, initiate or accelerate chemical reactions without the
need for high temperatures. For instance, the enzyme that
cleans the carbon dioxide from our blood enables us to stay
alive without suffocating. Known as “carbonic anhydrase,” it
speeds up the carbon dioxide cleansing process by 10 million
times. At this speed, enzymes cause changes in 36 million
32
molecules a minute. 33
How Do Enzymes Know What To Do?
Enzymes both accelerate vital reactions to the highest
possible speed and also use the body’s energy in the most eco-
nomic manner. If we think of the human body as a factory and
of the enzymes as the means of production, no source of en-
ergy could meet that factory’s needs, for the amount of energy
needed for the trillions of machines to work flawlessly would