Final answer:
Without enzymes, chemical reactions within the human body would be too slow to sustain life, making enzymes essential for digestion, metabolism, and overall health.
Step-by-step explanation:
If there were no enzymes in the human body, the vast majority of chemical reactions would occur at a rate far too slow to sustain life. Enzymatic reactions are crucial because they catalyze biochemical processes by significantly lowering the activation energy required for those reactions to occur. For instance, processes such as the breakdown of food into nutrients or cellular respiration (glucose combining with oxygen), which are essential for energy production and overall survival, rely heavily on the presence of enzymes. Without enzymes, these reactions might take hours, days, or might not occur at all under normal cellular conditions.
Without enzymes, chemical digestion in the digestive system would be impossible, as the digestive enzymes are responsible for breaking down large food molecules into small molecules that can be absorbed by the body. Additionally, a deficiency of specific enzymes can lead to severe medical conditions, such as Sanfilippo Syndrome type B, which is characterized by the accumulation of harmful waste products in cells due to the inability to break down certain carbohydrates.
Enzymes are designed to be highly specific, meaning they catalyze only certain reactions based on the shape and electrical charge of the substrates (reactants) they bind to. This specificity ensures that each enzyme performs its unique role efficiently, often catalyzing several million reactions per second.