Anatomy & Phyisiology Lab

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Anatomy & Physiology M and W 6:15–9:15 pm Introduction Many chemical reactions take place in each individual human cell, all performing the necessary functions for such a large, complex, multicellular organism. How do these reactions occur? Chemical reactions involve the breaking and reforming of chemical bonds between molecules (substrates), which are transformed into different molecules (products). Enzymes are biological catalysts. They help to increase the rate of chemical reactions. Enzymes are most often proteins. Enzymes are highly specific in terms of the reactions that they catalyze. In other words, they are highly specific to the substrates that they will act upon. In this lab we will investigate how amylase acts on starch, lipase on lipids, and trypsin on protein. Amylase is found in our saliva and breaks down starch for digestion. We will use iodine in the experiment to detect the presence of starch. When iodine makes contact with starch, its natural reddish-brown color turns dark purple. We will detect how long it takes for amylase to react and break down the starch. Lipase is the enzyme that hydrolyzes lipids into fatty acids and glycerol. To follow the reaction, we take advantage of the fact that fats are neutral, while fatty acids are acidic. The release of fatty acids from fats by hydrolysis will increase the acidity of the reaction mixture. This change can be observed by using the indicator dye phenol red, which is useful for measuring pH values. It is red when pH is neutral, changes to yellow when in an acid, and magenta when in a base. If completed successfully, you should be able to distinguish the fatty acids and glycerol; the dye will turn yellow where they are present, and the fat should rise to the top of the beaker. Trypsin breaks down protein into peptides and amino acids. In this experiment, our

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