Lactase Enzyme Lab Report

Laboratory 6: Lactase Enzyme Lab Report

Introduction

Enzymes are types of proteins that work as a substance to help speed up a chemical reaction (Madar & Windelspecht, 104). There are three factors that help enzyme activity increase in speed. The three factors that speed up the activity of enzymes are concentration, an increase in temperature, and a preferred pH environment. Whether or not the reaction continues to move forward is not up to the enzyme, instead the reaction is dependent on a reaction’s free energy. These enzymatic reactions have reactants referred to as substrates. Enzymes do much more than create substrates; enzymes actually work with the substrate in a reaction (Madar &Windelspecht, 106). For reactions in a cell it is important that a specific enzyme is present during the process. For example, lactase must be able to collaborate with lactose in order to break it down (Madar & Windelspecht, 105).

Lactase, a type of enzyme usually found in the small intestine, breaks down lactose into sugars such as galactose and glucose. People that are lactose intolerant cannot consume anything containing dairy because they cannot break down lactose, a sugar found in milk. Those that are lactose intolerant lack the enzyme lactase. Without lactase, the body does not have the ability to break down lactose, which leads to a person having an upset stomach and diarrhea. Adults are more likely to be lactose intolerant than children because of the metabolic change in the body (Dritsas). The lack of lactase that people have can be compensated by taking pills to help break down lactose that is consumed; with the help of a lactase pill the body can now absorb galactase and glucose properly (McCracken, 481).

The purpose of the foll...

... middle of paper ...

...remain the same at 4ºC and 25ºC. The final result of this experiment was that glucose was more present in environments of higher temperatures. Our hypothesis and predictions were wrong because lower temperatures do not break down the enzymes because they become denatured. The enzyme activity decreases once the temperature decreases, as well. Enzyme activity increases when there is a rise in temperature, which is why lactose is broken down in much higher temperatures, resulting in a high presence of glucose.

References

Dritsas, Lawrence. (2013). Physiology and the Dairy Market. Financial Times, 1: 10.

McCracken, Robert D. (1971). Lactase Deficiency: An Example of Dietary Evolution. Current Anthropology, 12(4-5): 481.

Madar, Sylvia S., & Windelspecht, Michael. (2014). Inquiry into Life, Metabolism: Energy & Enzymes (pp. 104-107). New York: McGraw Hill.