Introduction to Artificial Enzymes

What Are Artificial Enzymes? The term artificial enzyme loosely describes a molecule that attempts to imitate, recreate or modify naturally occurring biochemical reactions. Molecules are designed and modified to display enzyme-like characteristics. For instance, artificial enzymes may mimic the catalytic ability and specificity of a well-characterized enzyme or catalyze non-naturally occurring chemical reactions using known […]

Biological Relevance of Gene Shuffling

What Is Gene Shuffling? Gene shuffling is the process of creating genetic recombination in any biological system, which results in new genetic combinations that lead to differences in the genetic makeup of an individual in the population. The unique genetic composition accounts for variations that explain the differences between individuals and population groups. Also, the […]

Steps and Factors Affecting Enzyme Purification

Introduction The goal of enzyme purification is to obtain a substantial amount of a specific enzyme while conserving its function in vivo. Enzyme purification consists of three phases, which can be elaborated into four general steps. Depending on the physical and chemical properties, downstream application, and the source of the target enzyme, each enzyme requires its unique […]

Site-Directed Mutagenesis: Methods and Applications

Site-directed mutagenesis is a technique conceived in the 70s used to mutate specific DNA sequences in vitro. It relies on synthetic short single-stranded DNA fragments, or oligonucleotides, that contain designated mutations to act as templates in the presence of DNA polymerase enzyme. In the late 80s, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), another laboratory technique, was incorporated into site-directed mutagenesis workflow. The […]

Factors That Affects Enzyme Activity

Enzymes are a group of proteins that catalyze non-spontaneous chemical reactions in any biological system. In an organism, enzymes function as a group of interconnected chemical reactions in a metabolic pathway, fulfilling a specific cellular task. Metabolic pathways are active under normal circumstances and alter their activities in response to internal and external stimuli. Delayed response or failure to answer […]

Allosteric Enzymes: Characteristics, Models, and Examples

Introduction Allosteric enzymes are a group of biocatalysts that possess common characteristics of an enzyme but do not exhibit a typical Michaelis-Menten kinetic behavior. Instead, their kinetics follow a sigmoid curve. The key to allosteric enzyme activity lies in the reversible binding to a specific molecule on a non-catalytic site of the enzyme. The binding […]

Enzymes as Biocatalysts

Biocatalysts refer to proteins that drive all non-spontaneous chemical reactions in any biological system. Also known as enzymes, they are sensitive to temperature and pH, and act only on their specific reactants, unlike inorganic catalysts. However, their activities can be modulated and controlled. Since enzymes are also active in vitro and are organic in nature, […]

Introduction to Enzymology

Enzymology is a field of study that deals with a specific group of proteins called enzymes. These proteins accelerate specific chemical reactions in a biological system, and these reactions are essential to the growth, development, adaptation, and survival of the organism. The absence, accumulation, or dysfunctionality of an enzyme has drastic effects on the living […]