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Biocatalysis utilizes these biological macromolecules to catalyze small molecule transformations. Biocatalysis refers to the use of living (biological) systems or their parts to speed up chemical reactions. In biocatalytic processes, natural catalysts, such as enzymes, perform chemical transformations on organic compounds.
A small number of RNA-based biological catalysts called ribozymes exist, which again can act alone or in complex with proteins. The most common of these is the ribosome which is a complex of protein and catalytic RNA components. [1]: 2.2
A key feature of enzyme catalysis over many non-biological catalysis, is that both acid and base catalysis can be combined in the same reaction. In many abiotic systems, acids (large [H+]) or bases ( large concentration H+ sinks, or species with electron pairs) can increase the rate of the reaction; but of course the environment can only have ...
An illustrative example is the effect of catalysts to speed the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen: . 2 H 2 O 2 → 2 H 2 O + O 2. This reaction proceeds because the reaction products are more stable than the starting compound, but this decomposition is so slow that hydrogen peroxide solutions are commercially available.
Before the discovery of ribozymes, enzymes—which were defined [solely] as catalytic proteins—were the only known biological catalysts. In 1967, Carl Woese, Francis Crick, and Leslie Orgel were the first to suggest that RNA could act as a catalyst.
Not all biological catalysts are protein enzymes: RNA-based catalysts such as ribozymes and ribosomes are essential to many cellular functions, such as RNA splicing and translation. The main difference between ribozymes and enzymes is that RNA catalysts are composed of nucleotides, whereas enzymes are composed of amino acids.
Biosynthesis, i.e., chemical synthesis occurring in biological contexts, is a term most often referring to multi-step, enzyme-catalyzed processes where chemical substances absorbed as nutrients (or previously converted through biosynthesis) serve as enzyme substrates, with conversion by the living organism either into simpler or more complex ...
A review on single-atom catalysts, including single-atom nanozymes, was published. [144] Peroxidase-like mixed-FeCo-oxide-based surface-textured nanostructures (MTex) were used for biofilm eradication. [145] A nanozyme with better kinetics than natural peroxidase was developed. [146] A self-protecting nanozyme was developed for Alzheimer's ...