Apparently, my pancreas and liver supply me with lipolytic enzymes of differing characteristics. I’ve never really paid attention to either kind of enzyme, and you, unless you know body chemistry by hobby or trade, probably also haven’t looked into these biocatalysts. Out of sight, out of mind, right? And these little, but hard-working proteins do what they do, breaking down fat, don’t call attention to themselves unless they fail to do their protective jobs. They are like NFL offensive linemen. It’s only when they make a mistake like jumping offside at the beginning of a play or holding a rushing defensive lineman that the camera swings onto them and the announcer proclaims, “That’s going to be a costly penalty.” The running backs and quarterback, protected by the linemen, do acknowledge the grunt work and credit their success to the blocking up front. Anyway, back to the enzymes in you, as long as they do their job and block the harmful stuff, no one but a researcher notices their work.
Speaking of lipolytic enzyme researchers, who comes to mind but Dr. Rania Siam of the American University of Cairo? Dr. Siam has isolated an enzyme or two that do their blocking in the most trying of environments, those where one might not expect the game of life to be played. She wondered how extremophiles play in hostile stadia. We’re not talking angry fans of an opposing team. We’re talking extreme conditions that would seemingly prohibit life. As she explains, one of these environments is the Atlantis II Deep. It “is a brine pool in the Red Sea and is characterized by high temperature (almost 70oC), high salinity (7.5 times that of normal sea-water), high metal concentration and anoxia. Such extreme conditions make the Atlantis II deep an attractive site for mining for biocatalysts.”* So, that’s what she does, looks for the enzymes that enable microorganisms to survive where you and I would succumb to heat, salinity, lack of oxygen, and metal toxins. And she isolated enzymes that negate the toxicity of at least one metal.
How is it possible for any organism to survive in such extreme circumstances as the Atlantis II Deep? Again, lipolytic enzymes. But these chemicals aren’t just helpful for life-forms. “Who cares?” you ask. She would say, “Glad you asked. Using lipolytic enzymes as biocatalysts in industrial and biotechnological processes is estimated to be a billion dollar business. Their applications in industry include, and are not limited to, biodiesel formation, pulp and paper industry, detergent industry and flavor development and therefore, the demand for novel lipolytic enzymes is increasing continuously.”*
For the rest of us, that is, the people who ask, “Who cares?” Siam’s study seems overly specific. But you might guess there’s a lesson that stretches beyond the industrial practicality of her work. Though not as extreme as the conditions of the Atlantis II Deep, the conditions inside your body warrant the grunt work of the enzymes up front. Your overall wellness and success as an organism depends on their largely ignored work. And that’s the way it is with all the human catalysts in your life, the people who, without acknowledgement, make your life easier—maybe even make your life possible. They are sometimes known and sometimes not: Mothers, relatives, friends, and, yes, even fellow workers and bosses. Without their work up front, you meet a series of obstacles that you cannot overcome alone. In the most trying of circumstances, we all need some “human enzymes” that make few mistakes and that work for our success without asking for or seeking recognition. Our successes have largely depended on their unacknowledged catalytic work.
Maybe our own efforts will someday be the catalyst for the successes of others. We might not have the mass of an NFL lineman, but if we can just get in the way of whatever wants to prevent the running back behind us from breaking a long run toward a touchdown, we provide a necessary catalysis. That temporary action of ours might just give the running back time to decide on a new direction, just as Dr. Siam’s enzymes might enable a new industrial process in conditions once thought to be impossible to overcome.
* http://dar.aucegypt.edu/handle/10526/2839?show=full
Care to know more? There’s a long history of studies on lipolytic enzymes, for example, the 1933 study by Sobotka and Glick at http://www.jbc.org/content/105/1/199.full.pdf
Speaking of lipolytic enzyme researchers, who comes to mind but Dr. Rania Siam of the American University of Cairo? Dr. Siam has isolated an enzyme or two that do their blocking in the most trying of environments, those where one might not expect the game of life to be played. She wondered how extremophiles play in hostile stadia. We’re not talking angry fans of an opposing team. We’re talking extreme conditions that would seemingly prohibit life. As she explains, one of these environments is the Atlantis II Deep. It “is a brine pool in the Red Sea and is characterized by high temperature (almost 70oC), high salinity (7.5 times that of normal sea-water), high metal concentration and anoxia. Such extreme conditions make the Atlantis II deep an attractive site for mining for biocatalysts.”* So, that’s what she does, looks for the enzymes that enable microorganisms to survive where you and I would succumb to heat, salinity, lack of oxygen, and metal toxins. And she isolated enzymes that negate the toxicity of at least one metal.
How is it possible for any organism to survive in such extreme circumstances as the Atlantis II Deep? Again, lipolytic enzymes. But these chemicals aren’t just helpful for life-forms. “Who cares?” you ask. She would say, “Glad you asked. Using lipolytic enzymes as biocatalysts in industrial and biotechnological processes is estimated to be a billion dollar business. Their applications in industry include, and are not limited to, biodiesel formation, pulp and paper industry, detergent industry and flavor development and therefore, the demand for novel lipolytic enzymes is increasing continuously.”*
For the rest of us, that is, the people who ask, “Who cares?” Siam’s study seems overly specific. But you might guess there’s a lesson that stretches beyond the industrial practicality of her work. Though not as extreme as the conditions of the Atlantis II Deep, the conditions inside your body warrant the grunt work of the enzymes up front. Your overall wellness and success as an organism depends on their largely ignored work. And that’s the way it is with all the human catalysts in your life, the people who, without acknowledgement, make your life easier—maybe even make your life possible. They are sometimes known and sometimes not: Mothers, relatives, friends, and, yes, even fellow workers and bosses. Without their work up front, you meet a series of obstacles that you cannot overcome alone. In the most trying of circumstances, we all need some “human enzymes” that make few mistakes and that work for our success without asking for or seeking recognition. Our successes have largely depended on their unacknowledged catalytic work.
Maybe our own efforts will someday be the catalyst for the successes of others. We might not have the mass of an NFL lineman, but if we can just get in the way of whatever wants to prevent the running back behind us from breaking a long run toward a touchdown, we provide a necessary catalysis. That temporary action of ours might just give the running back time to decide on a new direction, just as Dr. Siam’s enzymes might enable a new industrial process in conditions once thought to be impossible to overcome.
* http://dar.aucegypt.edu/handle/10526/2839?show=full
Care to know more? There’s a long history of studies on lipolytic enzymes, for example, the 1933 study by Sobotka and Glick at http://www.jbc.org/content/105/1/199.full.pdf
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