1. Enzymes
By: Kendra Rankin

2. What are enzymes?
Enzymes are large protein
molecules which are made
up of long chains of amino
acids that is folded to
produce a molecule with a
specific 3D shape.
Enzymes can be used in
our bodies as biological
catalysts and in industry
also.

3. Enzymes in Clothes and
Dishwashing
Detergents
Enzymes can be used as detergents to remove stains such
as grass, sweat and food from clothes. These biological
washing powders contain proteases and
lipases. These enzymes break down the proteins and
fats in the stains. They help give cleaner washes and they
work better than non-biological detergents at lower
temperatures. This is because the enzymes work best at
lower temperatures, they denature if the water is too hot.
This means you loose less electricity.
(Dishwasher detergents contain enzymes that disgest
cooked-on proteins like eggs, which are often hard to
remove.)

4. Advantages and Disadvantages
of using Enzymes
Enzymes can solve industrial problems like the need for speeding up the many reactions that need high temperatutes
and pressures to make them go fast enough to produce the products needed which include the use of expensive
equipment and requires a lot of energy.
They catlyse reactions at relatively low temperatures and normal pressures. Enzyme-based processes are therefore
often fairly cheap to run.
One problem with enzymes is that they are denatured at high temperatures, so the temperature must be kept down
(usually below 45○C). The pH also needs to be kept within carefully controlled limits that suit the enzyme. It costs
money to control these conditions.
Many enzymes are also expensive to produce. Whole microbes are relatively cheap, but need to be supplied with food
and oxygen and their waste products removed. They use some of the substrate to grow more microbes. Pure enzymes
use the substrate more efficiently, but they are also more expensive to produce.

5. Enzymes in Baby Food
and Industry
Pure enzymes have many uses in industry.
Proteases are used to make baby foods. They 'predigest'
some of the protein in the food because babies when
they first start eating solid foods, they are not very good
at digesting it. Treating the food with protease. Enzymes
makes it easier for a baby's digestive system to cope
with.
Carbohydrates are used to convert starch into sugar
(glucose) syrup.
Starch is made by plants like corn and it is very cheap.
Using enzymes to convert this plant starch into sweet
sugar provides a cheap source of sweetness for food
manufactures.
It is also important for the process of making fuel
(ethanol) from plants.

6. Enzymes for Slimming Aid
Enzymes can be used for slimming aid
because the enzyme isomerase is used to
change glucose syrup into fructose syrup.
Glucose amd fructose contain the same
amount of energy (1700kJ or 400kcal per
100g). Fructose is much sweeter than
glucose and so smaller amounts are
needed to make food taste sweet. The
food tastes sweet but contains fewer
calories which helps you to lose weight.

7. Enzymes in Medical Diagnosis
If your liver is damaged
or diseased, some of
your liver enzymes may
leak out into your
bloodstream. If your
symptoms suggest your
liver isnt working properly,
doctors can test your
blood for these enzymes.
This will tell them if your
liver is really damaged.

8. Enzymes used to Control Disease
People who have too much glucose in their blood, as a
result, they also get glucose in their urine. One
commonly used test for sugar in the unrine relies on a
colour change on a test strip. The test contains a
chemical indicator and an enzyme. It is placed in a urine
sample. The enzyme breaks down any form of glucose
found in the urine. The strip changes colour if the
products of this reaction are present. This shows that
glucose was present in the original sample.

9. Enzymes used to Cure Diseases
If your pancreas is damaged or diseased it cannot make
enzymes. So, you have to take extra enzymes - particulary
lipase - to allow you to digest your food. The enzymes are
in special capsules to stop them being disgested in your
stomach.
If you have a heart attack, an enzyme called streptpkinase
will be injected into your blood as soon as possible. It
dissolves clots in the artries of the heart wall and reduces
the amount of damage done to your heart muscle.
An enzyme is being used to treat a type of blood cancer in
children. The cancer cells cannot make one particular
amino acid. They need to take it from your body fluids. The
enzyme speeds up the breakdown of this amino acid. The
cancer cells cannot get any and they die. Your normal cells
can make the amino acid so they are not affected.

10. The End