Enzymes

Enzymes are amazing molecules. They facilitate a variety of essential chemical reactions, like those involved in blood clotting, digestion, muscle movement, and cell regulation. We have also learned that enzymes assist in the repair and replication of the DNA molecule. But what exactly is an enzyme? The simple definition from chemistry is that they are a protein, a long chain of many amino acid molecules strung together and then folded just right. This might lead one to think that a straightforward evolutionary story would have the amino acids coming first and then the cell coming later. But that’s where things get challenging. The amino acids used in our body are made by other enzymes in our body. Thus we have a chicken & egg problem. What came first, the amino acids that are the building blocks for enzymes? Or the critical enzymes that actually make our bodies amino acids? Consider a sample enzyme (like that pictured above) that is made of 100 different amino acids. Those components would have been made by 100 unique enzymes, all different from our sample enzyme. Moreover, the recipe to properly build an enzyme, when it is needed, comes from the DNA. But, as we observed above, enzymes are needed to have functioning DNA. There are chicken and egg problems all over the place here…unless you start with an intelligent Creator who put the body together in the beginning!

Posted on August 2, 2024 by Dave.