Importance of Enzymes

Name: Importance of Enzymes
Uploaded: 2024-06-08T12:00:34+00:00
Duration: 6 s
Channel: Dr. Conor Brady
Description: In this educational Q&A video, Speaker A asks about the importance of enzymes, what they are, and where they are found. Speaker B explains that enzymes…

8 Jun 2024 · 0 min

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In this educational Q&A video, Speaker A asks about the importance of enzymes, what they are, and where they are found. Speaker B explains that enzymes are proteins that act as biological catalysts, speeding up reactions by bringing reactant molecules together in a specific orientation to produce useful products, whether by breaking down substances or synthesizing new ones such as ATP. Enzymes are present throughout the body, especially in the digestive system and various tissues. The discussion also mentions cofactors and coenzymes—small molecules like coenzyme Q10 and selenium that bind to enzymes to enhance their activity. Finally, Speaker A asks why the body produces fever (pyrexia), and the answer highlights that raising body temperature increases enzymatic reaction rates, roughly boosting activity by about tenfold per degree, thereby enhancing the metabolic response to pathogens.

Questions this video answers

Enzymes are proteins that act as biological catalysts, speeding up reactions by bringing reactant molecules together in a specific orientation, thereby producing useful products for the body such as broken‑down nutrients or synthesized ATP.

Raising body temperature increases enzymatic reaction rates dramatically—about tenfold per degree—enhancing the metabolic response to pathogens and supporting the immune system.

I would like to know the importance of enzymes and what enzymes really are and where we find them.
So I would say an enzyme is a protein which basically speeds up the reaction that would otherwise could happen naturally just through two molecules interacting with each other. But an enzyme actively takes those two and pushes them together in a set way which gives you a product which is useful to the body. They can be both found in the digestive system for the action of splitting up things as well. It's not just about putting them together, it's producing a product. So that product could be by splitting something down or it could be by putting something together. It's also found inside the body, so sorting out other tissues, maybe helping create ATP, for an example, for energy in cells. That's put together by an enzyme. Okay, so it can have cofactors. So we can consider things like coenzyme Q10 or selenium. These are, you know, molecules that will plug onto that protein and speed the process up. And that's roughly the definition without going into much more detail.
Why does the body produce pyrexia, fever? And the answer is that for every degree that you raise your body temperature, and that is a very healthy thing to do in most circumstances, as long as it doesn't go out of control, You increase the rate of enzymatic action by about 10 times, significantly enhances your, your metabolic approach to pathogens.
The digestive enzymes are the ones that people are most familiar with. They are released by your pancreas. And so you've got digestive enzymes for breaking down proteins and lipids and carbohydrates. But there's other places that produce enzymes. You've got your liver produces some enzymes because it needs it for breaking down toxins. And there's a really critical enzyme for 'breaking down DNA.' I never knew enzymes had any role in that. In fact, there's enzymes involved in absolutely everything.