What are biological catalysts commonly known as?

Biological catalysts are specifically known as enzymes. Enzymes are proteins that facilitate and accelerate biochemical reactions without being consumed in the process. They do this by lowering the activation energy needed for the reactions to occur, which allows the body to carry out necessary processes more efficiently.

While catalysts, in a general sense, refer to substances that speed up reactions, enzymes are the biological version that operate under mild conditions suitable for living organisms. Hormones and reactants serve different roles; hormones are signaling molecules that regulate physiological processes, while reactants are the substances that undergo change in a reaction and are not the catalysts themselves. Thus, enzymes represent the specialized category of biological catalysts that are crucial for metabolic activities.