Enzymes are biological catalysts: this means that they speed up the chemical reactions in living things.

A catalyst is any substance which makes a chemical reaction go faster, without itself being changed.

 A catalyst can be used over and over again in a chemical reaction: it does not get used up.

Enzymes are very much the same except that they are easily denatured (destroyed: but do NOT use this word since the protein molecule is not broken down into amino-acids, it just loses it shape and will not work any more) by heat.

Our enzymes work best at body temperature.

Our enzymes also have to have the correct pH.

Enzymes are used in;

Clarifing fruit juice

Disintegrating plant pulps to increase fruit juice

Wine clarification

Cloud stabilization

Extraction of citrus juices

Use in production of vegetable and fruit purees

We are going to find out about Nanatechnology over the next few weeks: 

Here is some information i’ve found out so far:

Nanotechnologgy is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale.

This covers both current work and concepts that are more advanced.

Scientists predict that the new science will profoundly affect modern life like the Industrial Revolution has. Nanotechnology is an entirely new way to think about manufacturing – such as building things from the ground up, one atom at a time – and is expected to give us products such as digital monitors that are as flexible as plastic wrap, and in the distant future, even steak without the cow. However, as business and investors rush to join in with trend, not many paused to think about the implications of the brave new science.

It is already being used in cosmetics, computer chips, sunscreens, self-cleaning windows and stain-resistant clothing, and in future could be used in medicine and computing. But materials on such a small scale have different properties from larger versions.

Until research has been carried out, which will take about 15 year, no-one knows the toxicity of nanomaterials

Research from University of California in San Diego in early 2002 revealed cadmium selenide nanoparticles, also called quantum dots, can cause cadmium poisoning in humans.

Britain’s leading environmental health experts, says concerns that tiny particles from the products might cause respiratory, cardiac and immune problems.