Welcome to Gifted By Nature @ 99 White Swans where we are dedicated to improving brands, products and processes using Nature’s amazing intelligence of enzymes.
So, what exactly do we mean by ‘Nature’s amazing intelligence’ of enzymes?
Well, let’s start to answer that question, firstly by acknowledging that ‘Nature is all knowing’ and has long ago solved all the challenges that Life presents. Nature reveals many marvels within which there is one highlight that is so fundamental to nutrition, digestion and overall good health, that it is surprising it receives so little attention -: Enzymes.
But, what exactly are Enzymes – are these chemicals?
Enzymes, at the most basic level are proteins. We all know that proteins are good. What is special about enzymatic proteins vs normal dietary protein, is quite simply the particular tertiary conformational (3-D) shape that they take on under ideal environmental conditions of pH and temperature, such that once their shape is correctly orientated, the active site of these enzymatic proteins are able to ‘fit’ into very specific areas on a substrate material (very much like a lock and key) and by doing so create a localized opportunity for very specific biochemical reactions to proceed, at speed – in effect, enzymes are the catalyst for almost all biochemical reactions that make life as we know it possible
Without enzymes, all 6 Kingdoms of Life itself would not be able to survive:
Animals, Plants, Fungi, Protista (algaes), Bacteria and Archaebacteria.
We already know that all forms of life require 6 primary elements to survive : Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorous and Sulphur. We also know that genetic material encodes the form, function and activity embodied in cellular structure, but if we dig a little deeper, it is impossible to determine with certainty which is more fundamental to the existence of life itself : genetic material or enzymes. It’s like a ‘chicken or egg’ paradox as to which came first:
At the centre of the paradox :
~DNA holds the code to create enzymes, yet…
~Enzymes are required to read, copy and maintain that DNA.
so, which leads … (which came first)..?
Guided by this paradox on the elixir of life, scientific consensus takes us one step back from DNA in what is commonly known as the “RNA world Theory” which supposes RNA as the most evolutionary primitive form of genetic material, primarily (and this is the important point) due to the fact that RNA possesses the unique ability to act as both genetic material and an enzyme (ribozyme). In short, it is the enzymatic capability of RNA (ribozyme) that differentiates it from DNA in its fundamentality to the existence of Life itself.
Of course, let’s never forget that water is the universal solvent of life and everything, including enzymes and genetic material are reliant on the presence of liquid water to enable functionality.
Everything else needed to sustain life, including energy production, homeostasis, reproduction, can be seen to be subservient to the need for the 6 basic core elements, water, genetic material and enzymes.
Forget all the science and philosophical thought though – the point of the discussion is really this :
ENZYMES are fundamentally important to the very existence of life.
Enzymes are at the very core of biochemical reactions within every living organism that we know of. So, to more directly now answer the question of “are enzymes chemicals” the answer is fundamentally a very resolute: “No”.
Ok, but can enzymes be usefully and safely used to enhance our foods, beverages, digestion and nutritional value?
The best way to answer this question is to take you right back to the earlier definition where we described two facts about enzymes : (1) All enzymes are proteins; (2) What differentiates an enzyme from a dietary protein is one thing and one thing only and that is the conformational structure of the protein that allows it to function as an enzyme.
Herein lies the true magic of Nature : the conformational structure is so highly specific that it can only exist within very specific pH and temperature ranges – when the 3-D structure is lost, the enzyme ceases all functional activity and quite simply it then becomes a dietary protein.
Think of it this way, enzymes are always good – during optimal periods where the environmental conditions of pH and temperature allow for it, the enzyme is functionally significant and beneficial and when those conditions change, the enzyme simply becomes a source of protein in our diets, like everything else.