Monday, November 17, 2008

Biological reactions that are essential to life would take 2.3 billion years without enzymes

Richard Wolfenden had discovered in 1995 that the enzymes that help in building RNA and DNA actually play a larger part. He found that these reaction would have taken 78 million years. Now, he found that the enzymes power as a catalyst is even greater than that. Any biological reaction requires enzymes so that these reactions can take miliseconds. These reactions would take half the life of Earth without enzymes(30 times slower than in 1995). He also saw that the enzymes increase the reactions by a substantial factor(the difference between the diameter of bacteria and the distance from Earth to the Sun). "Without catalysts, there would be no life at all, from microbes to humans," he said. This information helps scientists understand how to speed up reactions, but not producing, or predicting their magnitude of power.

This could be a major breakthrough. They say that his work influenced medicine, too. When they are able to produce the magnitude of power that enzymes hold, it might cure diseases that are fatal. His findings may have helped the world.

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