Humble Agent
The Onion reported a 2013 interview with an α-amylase enzyme involved in speeding up the breakdown of starch into maltose. Calling itself “just a catalyst, nothing more,” the enzyme remarked: “all I did was lower the activation energy required for the reaction to take place, but if I don’t have an amazing substrate to act upon, there is no reaction, period.”
α-amylase commented on all the factors necessary for success. “Say the pH isn’t slightly acidic, or the ions are not properly aligned. Are we left with a simple sugar that can be used as an immediate energy source? Absolutely not. You need teamwork for that, and thankfully, that’s what we had today.”
(The interview was, of course, fictitious. But the point that biochemical reactions are often daedal behaviors is true.)
