Economics of Enzyme Catalysis

One of the revolutions of this century is the development of our knowledge of catalysis by enzymes to the point where it can be examined in ordinary chemical terms. There is optimism that chemistry can explain enzymatic catalysis without requiring vitalistic or mystical hypotheses. Nevertheless, it is clear that we are far from being able to provide such a chemical explanation today and that very little is known quantitatively about the enormous rate accelerations brought about by enzymes for reactions of their specific substrates. With few exceptions, chemical catalysts do not begin to approach the catalytic efficiency or specificity of enzymes.