A protein that speeds up chemical reactions is called an enzyme. Enzymes act as biological catalysts, meaning they increase the rate of specific chemical reactions without being consumed or permanently altered in the reaction process. They achieve this by lowering the activation energy required for the reaction to proceed, allowing the reaction to occur more quickly and efficiently under mild conditions such as body temperature. Enzymes are highly specific to the reactions they catalyze and can facilitate millions of reactions per second, which is essential for sustaining life processes.

Key Details about Enzymes

• Enzymes are proteins that accelerate biochemical reactions within cells.

• They speed up reactions by lowering the activation energy, not by adding energy to the reaction.

• Enzymes remain unchanged after reactions and can be reused repeatedly.

• They are highly specific, meaning one enzyme typically catalyzes one or a few related reactions.

• Enzymes work efficiently at normal biological temperatures, unlike some chemical catalysts that require high temperatures.

• Examples include digestive enzymes, enzymes used in industrial processes, and novel enzymes created by machine learning to speed chemical reactions.

Thus, the answer is that enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions by acting as biological catalysts.