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I hear Rakuto Kasei manufactures chemicals for textiles. Why does Rakuto Kasei know so much about biotechnology, or enzymes? |
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You're right. They manufacture chemicals for textiles. Among these, they have an enzymatic desizing agent. It removes starches attached to warp yarns of woven fabrics. Rakuto Kasei started with this desizing agent with the use of an enzyme called amylase. |
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Well, an "enzyme"? I often hear....but, can you explain it briefly? |
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Sure. For example, when you were chewing rice, haven't you ever felt that the rice gradually tasted sweet? |
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I love Oomi rice the best! Looking forward to new rice. |
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I know it tastes nice, but don't change the subject. I'll tell you the reason why rice tastes sweet. Starch, a main constituent of rice, is degraded by the enzyme called amylase contained in your saliva. That's why the rice tastes sweet. |
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I remember I learned it at school. Pepsin contained in our gastric juice, or something? |
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That's right. |
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Is the enzyme a living organism? |
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No, it's not a living organism. The enzyme is a catalyst. Catalysts provide substances with chemical changes, without changing themselves in chemical reactions. Do you understand? It might be a bit difficult. When the enzyme loses its power, we don't say it's dead, but we say it's deactivated. |
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I see... I know our saliva is not a living organism. |
| After this, the subject of their talks changed to recent movies. A story about the enzyme would be discussed next time. |
