Macromolecule Lab

In an organism 's body, chemical reactions are constantly taking place. These essential reactions can make or break the well-being of the body, yet the brain behind these changes is often times not recognized. This little brain or “macromolecule” is called an enzyme. An enzyme is a type protein that is able to speed up over 5,000 different reaction types an organism (2). Through catalyzation, the process of speeding up chemical reactions, enzymes attach to a substrate/molecule and break it down so that it can be used throughout the organism. Enzymes break down substrates in a very efficient way; through an assembly line (3). One enzyme starts off by attaching itself to a substrate at the active site, where the two undergo chemical reactions.

A simple change in temperature, a molecule out of place, and a sudden change in the pH level are just some of the things that can harm an enzyme 's reaction rate (the speed at which a chemical reaction proceeds) (5). To test the reaction rate of an enzyme, a lab was done to simulate what would happen to an enzyme under extreme conditions. The enzyme (represented by a hand) had to catalyze as many substrates as possible (represented by toothpicks) within 60 seconds. The experiment dealt with environmental factors such as extreme cold, presence of other molecules, etc. The lab that was simulated directly correlated to many of the topics discussed in class, like explaining the importance of enzymes and measuring the enzymes’ ability to function under different conditions. The breaking of the toothpicks symbolizes the catalyzation of substrates in a cell. This deepens the understanding of the purposes of an enzyme and what affects each one of them. The conditions that were present in the lab showed that the enzyme is exposed is not perfect at all times and that the effect that they have is vitally important to the performance of the enzyme, and more importantly, the organism that it is living in. So this raises one question to mind; What causes the reaction rate to slow down the