What is the role of enzymes in chemical reactions?

Enzymes play a crucial role in facilitating chemical reactions by acting as catalysts. Catalysts are substances that increase the rate of a reaction without being consumed in the process. Enzymes achieve this by lowering the activation energy required for a reaction to occur. By doing so, they enable biochemical reactions to proceed at a much faster rate than they would in the absence of the enzyme. This is vital for numerous biological processes, including digestion, metabolism, and DNA replication.

In addition to their catalytic function, enzymes are specifically tailored to interact with particular substrates, forming an enzyme-substrate complex that promotes the transformation of substrates into products. This specificity and efficiency are why enzymes are essential for life, allowing organisms to respond to changes in their environment and regulate metabolic pathways.

The other choices don't accurately reflect the function of enzymes. For instance, enzymes do not increase activation energy; rather, they lower it. They are not reactants themselves; instead, they interact with reactants (substrates) to facilitate a reaction. Enzymes also do not inhibit substrate attraction but rather enhance the ability of substrates to bind and undergo reaction. Understanding the catalytic role of enzymes is fundamental to grasping how biological systems function.