Grandpaparazzi's Neighborhood: October 2009

10/27/2009

Ode to Enzymology

FWIW - here is a poem I wrote sometime in the past. I don't know when, but it was apparently when I was supposed to be working. I have now idea what prompted me to wax eloquent on the subject.
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Sleeping or waking, walking or still,
Never requiring a thought or a skill
Inside your body and at all times
Cat'lysts are working - the friendly enzymes.

Some chemical actions are awfully slow
Taking forever, oh don't you know.
You just need something to make it go fast.
Enzymes will really give it a blast.

How do they do this wonderful feat-
Speeding up processes? It's sort of neat!
Though it changes molecules in form if not name,
The enzyme itself stays exactly the same.

Enzymes are useful for many a thing.
They assist doctors in diagnosing
Diseases and damage to tissue from ills
And checking effectiveness of helpful pills.

If an old drunk wanders in off the street
And enters a clinic, his sickness to treat,
Enzymes can measure the harm to his liver
Through which the alcohol flowed like a river.

When doctors suspect that deep down inside us
There might be a chance of acute menengitis,
They can use enzymes for quick diagnosis
Which leads to a sure cure by medicine doses.

Another condition that's fatal, it's true,
Affects little children all under age two.
We have no cure, but they're diagnosed with ease:
One missing enzyme identifies these.

Dikanut fiber is good for the diet;
Some diabetics are told they should try it.
Is it effective? This question it raises.
Measure with enzymes - they're called ATPases.

Aldolase, creatine phospokinase,
Serum aspartate amino transtrase.
Though enzymes have names that are way out in space,
It's easy to tell them - they all end with "ase".

What is the tool you often will find
Which furthers the welfare of all of mankind?
Clinical chemists all over agree:
It's Diagnostic Enzymology.