Bayan da aka nuna cewa enzymes na iya aiki a waje da kwayar halitta mai rai, mataki na gaba shine a tantance yanayin ilimin kimiyyar su. Yawancin ma'aikata na farko sun lura cewa aikin enzymatic yana da alaƙa da sunadarai, amma masana kimiyya da yawa (kamar wanda ya lashe kyautar Nobel Richard Willstätter) sun yi jayayya cewa sunadarai masu ɗaukar hoto ne kawai ga enzymes na gaskiya kuma sunadarai da kansu ba su iya catalysis. Duk da haka, a 1926, James B. Sumner ya nuna cewa enzyme urease sunadarai ne mai tsabta kuma sun crystallized shi; Sumner ya yi haka don enzyme catalase a 1937.
Kyautar Nobel a Kimiyyar Kimiyya