Why do chemical reactions in cells proceed in a series of steps called a biochemical pathway??
The reactions in a biochemical pathway are often catalysed by enzymes, which can only act on certain molecular structures, and it would be inefficient and much, much slower for the cell to not use the enzymes. Often there are different molecules that need to be added in along the way to be able to make the correct structure for the next enzyme to work. I suppose you can think of it as a recipe – you don’t just throw all the ingredients in together, there has to be a logical step-by-step procedure. It’s therefore necessary to make sure all the steps in the biochemical pathway are followed sequentially to make sure you get the right product. In response to the second question, build up of an end product would most likely cause a ‘negative feedback’ action, whereby the increasing concentration of product would cause the reaction to slow down or stop. This is similar to the production of insulin to lower blood sugar levels – if your blood sugar level drops as a result of the insulin, you d
