Cellulose is the most profuse organic compound in the world and until now, humanity hasn’t really understood how it develops in full detail. Cellulose is a compound that has a long, chain-like structure, which is a collective make up of numerous glucose strands that are concentrated into a crystal. Scientists have begun to understand the molecular structure of the particular enzyme that manufactures cellulose. Furthermore, a sizable protein complex synthesizes the plant’s cellulose and this particular complex can contain up to 36 cellulose synthase enzymes. Each of the enzymes has an area known as the “catalytic domain”, where sugars are added to a continuous strand of glucose that ends up becoming part of the cell wall. However, scientists discovered that the cellulose synthase enzyme not only has a catalytic domain, but an even smaller area that serves as the blueprints for the entire protein complex. This particular area conjugates with another cellulose synthase enzyme and stick together. In turn, this newfound knowledge on geometrics and conjoining of the cellulose synthase enzyme could prove to be beneficial for the future. This knowledge could allow humanity to understand how to break down cellulose effectively and efficiently, which could speed up the process for cellulosic biofuels and save energy at the same time. The less difficult it is to break down cellulose, the less energy is needed to do so. Also, humanity tried to replace the cellulose with compounds made from oil. This is because of the extreme difficulty of breaking down cellulose. Furthermore, oil is a limited resource and humanity’s supply of it is running out fast. So, the ability to break down cellulose will decrease humanity’s use of oil and also provide us with a much more sustainable resource.
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