Enzymes

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.

→ Play on BBC Sounds website

Guests

• Nigel Richards No other episodes
  Professor of Biological Chemistry at Cardiff University
• Sarah Barry No other episodes
  Lecturer in Chemical Biology at King's College London
• Jim Naismith 2 episodes
  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

Reading list

• Biochemistry
  Jeremy M. Berg, John L. Tymoczko and Lubert Stryer (W. H. Freeman, 2002) Google Books →
• An Introduction to Enzyme and Coenzyme Chemistry
  T. D. H. Bugg (Wiley-Blackwell, 2004) Google Books →
• Understanding the Structure and Function of Enzymes
  Jonathan Clark
• Discovering Enzymes
  David Dressler and Huntington Potter (Scientific American Library, 1991) Google Books →
• Amino Acids & Enzymes: What Are They, Why Do You Need Them
  Brian B. Jacques (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014) Google Books →
• The Chemistry of Life
  Steven Rose (Penguin, 1999) Google Books →

Related episodes

• Mitochondria
  
  1 Jun, 2023 570 Biology
• Photosynthesis
  
  14 May, 2020 570 Biology
• Macromolecules
  
  29 Dec, 2011 570 Biology
• The Cell
  
  13 Sep, 2012 570 Biology
• Microbiology
  
  8 Mar, 2007 570 Biology
• Fungi
  
  15 Feb, 2018 570 Biology
• Plankton
  
  5 Oct, 2023 570 Biology
• Complexity
  
  19 Dec, 2013 500 Science
• The Origins of Life
  
  23 Sep, 2004 570 Biology
• Evolution
  
  15 Apr, 1999 570 Biology
• The Microscope
  
  28 Nov, 2013 500 Science
• Genetic Engineering
  
  14 Jan, 1999 570 Biology
• Circadian Rhythms
  
  17 Dec, 2015 570 Biology
• Genetic Determinism
  
  23 Sep, 1999 570 Biology
• Chemical Elements
  
  25 May, 2000 540 Chemistry
• Nuclear Fusion
  
  30 Oct, 2014 530 Physics
• Human Evolution
  
  16 Feb, 2006 560 Fossils and prehistoric life
• Genetic Mutation
  
  6 Dec, 2007 570 Biology
• Louis Pasteur
  
  18 May, 2017 610 Medicine and health
• The Brain and Consciousness
  
  19 Nov, 1998 150 Psychology

---

Programme ID: b08rp369

Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08rp369

Auto-category: 572 (Biochemistry)