Enzymes perform very specific functions and require little energy – which is why biocatalysts are also of interest to the chemical industry. In a review article published in the journal Nature Reviews Chemistry, Professor Thomas Happe and Associate Professor Anja Hemschemeier from the Photobiotechnology work group at Ruhr-Universität Bochum have provided a summary on what is known about the mechanisms of enzymes in nature. Moreover, the authors outline a future vision: artificial biocatalysts that are not protein-based, as they usually are in nature, but which are rather made from DNA. The article was published on 17 August 2018.