What is the problem with the lock and key enzyme theory?
How does an enzyme use binding energy to lower the activation energy for a reaction? Formation of the ES complex is not the explanation in itself, although some of the earliest considerations of enzyme mechanisms began with this idea. Studies on enzyme specificity carried out by Emil Fischer led him to propose, in 1894, that enzymes were structurally complementary to their substrates, so that they fit together like a lock and key . This elegant idea, that a specific (exclusive) interaction between two biological molecules is mediated by molecular surfaces with complementary shapes, has greatly influenced the development of biochemistry, and such interactions lie at the heart of many biochemical processes. However, the “lock and key” hypothesis can be misleading when applied to enzymatic catalysis. An enzyme completely complementary to its substrate would be a very poor enzyme, as we can demonstrate. Consider an imaginary reaction, the breaking of a magnetized metal stick. The uncatalyz
