Form and function in enzyme activity

Many industrial chemistry applications, such as drug or biofuel synthesis, require large energy inputs and often produce toxic pollutants. But chemistry and chemical biology professor Mary Jo Ondrechen said enzymes — proteins that increase the rate of chemical reactions in the body — could be used to effectively replace standard industrial processes. “Enzymatic reactions are cleaner, produce fewer byproducts and use less energy,” she explained. But attempts to replicate natural enzymes for industrial applications are limited by our incomplete knowledge of these proteins. More...

http://phys.org/news/2012-04-function-enzyme.html