ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a summary overview of their additional applied uses, offering a framework for the interested reader to better understand the entire application range of the versatile biomolecules. Enzymes find a broad range of applications within industry, medicine, and as analytical reagents. A selection of enzymes also finds analytical application as reporter groups for immunoassays. In an immobilized format, enzymes can be used as the biological-sensing element of biosensors. The production of leather from animal hides involves several steps, many of them using enzymes. Carbohydrases represent the second most economically significant grouping of industrial enzymes. These include amylolytic enzymes, pectinases, and to a lesser extent, cellulases. Cellulases are a family of enzymes capable of degrading cellulose to glucose and short chains of glucose. Many enzymes derived from hyperthermophiles, for example, function optimally at temperatures well in excess of 80°C.
