Researchers trigger enzymes with light
Published Date: 5/27/2020
Source: phys.org
Enzymes are the central drivers for biochemical metabolic processes in every living cell, enabling reactions to take place efficiently. It is this ability that makes them useful as catalysts in biotechnology, for example, to create chemical products such as pharmaceutics. A topic that is currently being widely discussed is photoinduced catalysis, in which researchers harness the ability to start biochemical reactions using light. This process requires enzymes that can be activated by means of light. It is not, however, a simple matter to incorporate the few naturally occurring light-activatable enzymes into biotechnological processes, as they are highly specialised and difficult to manipulate.