Enzymes are biological molecules (typically proteins) that significantly speed up the rate of virtually all of the chemical reactions that take place within cells.

In a publication selected as a "2007 Hot Article" by the journal Biochemistry, University at Buffalo chemists report the discovery of a central mechanism responsible for the action of the powerful ...

Reilly is particularly interested in the enzymes that work on cellulose. He has a three-year, $306,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a basic understanding of how they work.

The enzymes thus play a crucial role in making life on earth work and can be compared to nature's small factories. They are also used in detergents, and to manufacture, among other things ...

The work doesn't stop there, as principal investigator Dr. Gino DiLabio says ongoing studies are exploring whether this effect applies to other radical enzymes.

However, it is time-consuming and expensive to determine k cat turnover numbers in experiments, which is why they are not known for the vast majority of reactions. The Computational Cell Biology ...