Hi Participants,

We all use the word "enzyme" in discussion about nutrition on a daily basis but how well do we really understand them. How do they work?? We know enzymes are made from amino acids in varying numbers, we know they have a specific shape and they can only engage in one breakdown because of their shape,and the breaking is done at the active site, but how do they actually break the bond?? Do they physically cut the bond? Do they break it by physical attraction??
We know the problems caused by not having an enzyme such as "Lactose intolerance". In college we learned the names of the enzymes but I can not ever recall the explanation for the breaking of the bond. You have peptidases which breaks short chain peptides down into individual amino acids,proteases which break long proteins into short chains, you also have enzymes that repair DNA called DNA-Manipulation enzymes, you also have enzymes that make enzymes called enzyme-production enzymes, and restriction enzymes, which bacteria use to recognise and break DNA, and energy enzymes which is a set of 10 enzymes that allow a cell to perform glycolysis, another 8 enzymes control the citric acid cycle (Kreb cycle) but at the molecular level how do they create the breaking of the bonds and how do they exercise repairs and how do they maintain control??