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Curious Cases of the Enzymes / Neobiča Istorija Enzima

2014; De Gruyter; Volume: 34; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Croata

10.2478/jomb-2014-0045

1452-8258

Nuriye Nuray Ulusu,

Medicinal Plants and Neuroprotection

Life as we know it heavily relies on biological catalysis, in fact, in a very nonromantic version of it, life could be considered as a series of chemical reactions, regulated by the guarding principles of thermodynamics. In ancient times, a beating heart was a good sign of vitality, however, to me, it is actually the presence of active enzymes that counts… Though we do not usually pay attention, the history of enzymology is as old as humanity itself, and dates back to the ancient times. This paper is dedicated to these early moments of this remarkable science that touched our lives in the past and will make life a lot more efficient for humanity in the future. There was almost always a delicate, fundamentally essential relationship between mankind and the enzymes. Challenged by a very alien and hostile Nature full of predators, prehistoric men soon discovered the medicinal properties of the plants, through trial and error. In fact, they accidently discovered the enzyme inhibitors and thus, in crude terms, kindled a sparkling area of research. These plant-derivatives that acted as enzyme inhibitors helped prehistoric men in their pursuit of survival and protection from predators; in hunting and fishing… Later in history, while the underlying purposes of survival and increasing the quality of life stayed intact, the ways and means of enzymology experienced a massive transformation, as the 'trial and error' methodology of the ancients is now replaced with rational scientific theories.Život oko nas uglavnom se zasniva na biološkoj katalizi, pa bi se čak, u nekakvoj neromantičnoj priči, život mogao opisati kao niz hemijskih reakcija koje regulišu glavni principi termodinamike. U davnoj prošlosti, kucanje srca bilo je znak dobrog zdravlja, međutim, za mene, najvažniju ulogu ima upravo prisustvo enzima... Mada ne obraćamo često pažnju na to, istorija enzimologije stara je koliko i sam ljudski rod i seže daleko u prošlost. Ovaj rad posvećen je baš tim počecima u ovoj veoma zanimljivoj nauci, koja je u prošlosti ostavila traga na našim životima i koja će u budućnosti učiniti da život bude mnogo produktivniji za čovečanstvo. Između čoveka i enzima postojao je oduvek jedan delikatan, suštinski važan odnos. Suočen s nepoznatom i neprijateljski nastrojenom prirodom punom grabljivaca, preistorijski čovek rano je otkrio lekovita svojstva biljaka, i to metodom probe i greške. Štaviše, slučajno su otkriveni inhibitori enzima, čime je, grubo rečeno, još tada otvorena nova oblast istraživanja. Ovi biljni derivati koji su imali ulogu inhibitora enzima pomagali su preistorijskom čoveku u njegovoj borbi da opstane i zaštiti se od grabljivaca; prilikom lova i ribolova... Kasnije kroz istoriju, sa nepromenjenom svrhom opstanka i poboljšanja kvaliteta života, enzimologija je iz korena transformisana, a metodologiju »probe i greške« iz praistorije zamenile su racionalne naučne teorije.