Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss enzymes, the proteins that control the speed of chemical reactions in living organisms. Without enzymes, these reactions would take place too slowly to keep organisms alive: with their actions as catalysts, changes which might otherwise take millions of years can happen hundreds of times a second. Some enzymes break down large molecules into smaller ones, like the ones in human intestines, while others use small molecules to build up larger, complex ones, such as those that make DNA. Enzymes also help keep cell growth under control, by regulating the time for cells to live and their time to die, and provide a way for cells to communicate with each other.
With
Nigel Richards Professor of Biological Chemistry at Cardiff University
Sarah Barry Lecturer in Chemical Biology at King's College London
And
Jim Naismith Director of the Research Complex at Harwell Bishop Wardlaw Professor of Chemical Biology at the University of St Andrews Professor of Structural Biology at the University of Oxford
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:02.0 | Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time. |
| 0:05.0 | There's a reading list to go with it on our website. |
| 0:07.0 | And you can get news about our programs if you follow us on Twitter at BBC In Our Time. |
| 0:12.0 | I hope you enjoyed the programs. |
| 0:14.0 | Hello, enzymes are essential to life. |
| 0:16.0 | Their proteins found throughout our bodies and all living organisms |
| 0:20.0 | and their role is to increase the speed of chemical reactions. |
| 0:23.0 | In our gutsy our brains are lungs, throughout our bodies |
| 0:26.0 | they enable reactions up to thousands of times a second. |
| 0:29.0 | Reactions we've not otherwise not happened even in the lifetime of the universe. |
| 0:33.0 | Enzymes were noticed first in yeasts, in bread making and brewing. |
| 0:37.0 | The name comes from the Greek in yeast. |
| 0:39.0 | And for over a century one Nobel Prize after another has been awarded to scientists |
| 0:43.0 | who have helped explain how enzymes are made and how they do what they do. |
| 0:47.0 | This has led to breakthroughs in medicine and hopes for a new and cleaner way of doing chemistry in the man-made world. |
| 0:54.0 | With me to discuss enzymes are Nigel Richards, professor of biological chemistry at Cardiff University, |
| 1:00.0 | Sarah Barry, lecturer in chemical biology at King's College London, |
| 1:04.0 | and Jim Nasemith, professor at San Andreas and Oxford University. |
| 1:08.0 | Nigel Richards, what did scientists see in the 19th century that made them think that something like an enzyme was at work? |
| 1:15.0 | Okay, well, you can trace it back actually to the beginning of the 19th century, |
| 1:21.0 | although it really goes back thousands of years. |
... |
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