Enzymes are proteins with highly specialized catalytic functions, produced by all living organisms. Enzymes are responsible for many essential biochemical reactions in microorganisms, plants, animals, and human beings. Enzymes are essential for all metabolic processes, but are not alive. Although like all other proteins, enzymes are composed of amino acids, they differ in function in that they have the unique ability to facilitate biochemical reactions without undergoing change themselves. This catalytic capability is what makes enzymes unique. Enzymes are natural protein molecules that act as highly efficient catalysts in biochemical reactions, that is, they help a chemical reaction take place quickly and efficiently. Enzymes not only work efficiently and rapidly, they are also biodegradable. Enzymes are highly efficient in increasing the reaction rate of biochemical processes that otherwise proceed very slowly, or in some cases, not at all.