Enzymes are the central drivers of biochemical metabolic processes in organisms — without enzymes, there is no life.

Enzymes work very specifically — a single enzyme usually catalyses only one single reaction and it only converts a very specific molecule, the so-called substrate. This makes enzymes special biological tools. There is a huge variety of enzymes with different abilities. For almost every biochemical reaction, nature’s toolbox contains its own biocatalysts. Building, degrading or rebuilding molecules, these are the core functions of enzymes. Their names end characteristically with “-ase”, i.e. cellulase, lipase or protease.