My catalyst of the week is Glucose oxidase. Glucose oxidase works in cells to break down sugar into smaller molecules.
Glucose Oxidase is a oxidoreductase, a class of enzymes which catalyze the transfer of electrons from one molecule (the reductant or electron donor) to another molecule (the oxidant or electron acceptor). Specifically, glucose oxidase catalyses the oxidation of glucose to hydrogen peroxide and D-glucono-o-lactone.
Glucose Oxidase requires the coenzyme FAD in order to perform its function.
Glucose Oxidase is now used in baking, in testing blood glucose level, as an antibiotic, and as a preservative.
Reflections on class discussion;
Well, I am surprised that I got so heated about the article 'Chemical Exposure a Bigger Threat than Climate Change', written by the author of the book, 'Poisoned Planet. I wish I had been able to express my difference of opinion with the author in a manner that did not come across so aggressive. I agree that shifting consumer habits is necessary in order to shift production... but like I said in class, I believe there needs to be legislation that makes it in the interest of any company, regardless of size, to decrease production of toxic substances for market or use pre-market.
It is amazing to me how far reaching our local practices are. I think many people, myself sometimes included, forget how closely linked everything on the planet is from moment to moment. In this age, it seems to me that isolation and alienation are just as important to consider and overcome as are toxic production and toxicity proliferation. If humans felt more intimately linked to one another and the planet, would it be easier to make sustainable decisions?
I think you are right about legislation, because there are laws in place that make it illegal for companies to put the environment before profit (company must do whatever it takes to get maximum profit for shareholders), it would take a law to level the playing field. If a "green company" made the same product, for twice the price, but made it in a way that was good for the environment, no one would buy this product and the company would surely go bankrupt. However if laws made it so the most costly, yet more environmentally friendly practice of production was mandatory, the competition would be level, thus making it a viable option in a business sense.
ReplyDeletei like your point that isolation and alienation are important to consider. it seems to me that our problems at root are philosophical and related to how we look at the world and the humans/plants/animals/earth around us. it's not just about the individual choice here either-- modern cultures breed isolation and alienation, imo. forget the "power" of the consumer to buy things, why are buying so much stuff in the first place? alienation and isolation...
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