[Music] our cells are amazing molecular machines every day they convert food into energy such as ATP that drives the millions of biochemical processes necessary for keeping us alive the pathways used to convert substrates such as glucose into products are collectively referred to as metabolic pathways the drivers of these metabolic pathways are enzymes enzymes are usually proteins that work to assist chemical reactions by building or breaking down molecules however enzymes don't drive reactions at a constant rate the rate of reaction can speed up slow down or stop completely according to the cell's needs this process is analogous to an assembly line where raw materials are converted into products the assembly line must be monitored to ensure that the supply of products does not exceed demand if products are being created at a rate that is faster than they can be used both resources and products are being wasted the assembly line can produce at a slower rate or stop completely to prevent waste in cells this process is called feedback inhibition feedback inhibition is achieved through a process called allosteric regulation and plays an important role in Many metabolic pathways enzymes have a unique area called the active site where substrates can bind enzymes that can be regulated have an additional area called the allosteric site Downstream products combined to this regulatory site causing the enzyme to change shape and prevent it from binding with its substrates this causes the entire Pathway to Halt and new products are no longer formed conversely when the amount of Downstream product gets too low the enzymes interact with their usual substrates and begin forming products again feedback inhibition plays a critical role in preventing cells from wasting resources and energy mutated enzymes that do not respond to alisic regulation have been linked to disease states such as cancer many processes in our bodies rely on feedback inhibition to keep everything running smoothly and efficiently maintaining homeostasis for