What role do enzymes play in biological processes?

Enzymes are biological catalysts that play a crucial role in facilitating and accelerating chemical reactions within living organisms. They achieve this by lowering the activation energy required for reactions to proceed, allowing processes to occur at a much faster rate than they would without the enzymes. This catalytic function is essential in various biological processes, including metabolism, DNA replication, and signal transduction, among others.

The specific nature of enzymes, which are typically proteins, allows them to bind to substrates with high specificity, forming an enzyme-substrate complex that enables the conversion of substrates into products efficiently. Without enzymes, many biochemical reactions would be too slow to sustain life. This is why their role as catalysts is fundamental to all cellular activities and overall biological functioning.