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'Enzymes' Enzymes are biological catalysts. A catalyst is defined as a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent change. Enzymes do precisely this in living things. Without them, the rate of the reactions would be so slow as to cause serious, if not fatal, damage. Enzymes have two main functions: To act as highly specific catalysts, and also to provide a way of controlling reactions, the amount of enzyme determines how quickly the reaction can proceed. Enzymes are usually globular proteins (some have been found to be RNA molecules that can act as enzymes) and have a specific three-dimensional shape. Enzyme molecules have a complicated three-dimensional shape due to the particular way the amino acid chain that makes up the protein is folded. An enzymes three-dimensional shape is called its tertiary structure. A few of the amino acids on the surface...

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