ZYMOGEN

proenzyme, zymogen

(noun) any of a group of compounds that are inactive precursors of enzymes and require some change (such as the hydrolysis of a fragment that masks an active enzyme) to become active

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

zymogen (plural zymogens)

(biochemistry) A proenzyme, or enzyme precursor, which requires a biochemical change (i.e. hydrolysis) to become an active form of the enzyme.

Source: Wiktionary


Zym"o*gen, n. Etym: [Zyme + -gen.] (Physiol. Chem.)

Definition: A mother substance, or antecedent, of an enzyme or chemical ferment; -- applied to such substances as, not being themselves actual ferments, may by internal changes give rise to a ferment. The pancreas contains but little ready-made ferment, though there is present in it a body, zymogen, which gives birth to the ferment. Foster.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

21 June 2025

SUFFOCATION

(noun) the condition of being deprived of oxygen (as by having breathing stopped); “asphyxiation is sometimes used as a form of torture”


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Coffee Trivia

Decaffeinated coffee comes from a chemical process that takes out caffeine from the beans. Pharmaceutical and soda companies buy the extracted caffeine.

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