It effectively demonstrated the use of enzymes in laundry detergents, which dissolve stubborn stains quickly. Unfortunately, many viewers mistakenly thought enzymes were alive. While enzymes are present in all living cells, they are not living organisms.
Enzymes make life possible by speeding up all biological and chemical reactions.
They are specialised proteins, which act on specific molecules, breaking them into smaller sub-units. There are more than 1,300 different enzymes in cells, involved with more than 100,000 types of biological reactions. The body makes more than 20 types of digestive enzymes alone, breaking down sugars, fat, proteins and carbohydrates into smaller units so they can be absorbed more efficiently into the body. Enzymes have been used for hundreds of years commercially in winemaking, fermenting dairy products, tanning leather, and in the cosmetics and laundry industries. About the same time during the 1930s, a Dr Wolfe in Germany discovered animal enzymes while Dr Edward Howell of the United States started investigating plant enzymes.