I. Introduction to Carbonic Anhydrase (CA) and to the Review 948 1. Introduction: Overview of CA as a Model 948 1.1. Value of Models 950 1.2. Objectives and Scope of the Review 950 2. Overview of Enzymatic Activity 950 3. Medical Relevance 951 II. Structure and Structure−Function Relationships of CA 953 4. Global and Active-Site Structure 953 4.1. Structure of Isoforms 953 4.2. Isolation and Purification 954 4.3. Crystallization 954 4.4. Structures Determined by X-ray Crystallography and NMR 955 4.4.1. Structures Determined by X-ray Crystallography 955 4.4.2. Structure Determined by NMR 955 4.5. Global Structural Features 963 4.6. Structure of the Binding Cavity 964 4.7. Zn II -Bound Water 965 5. Metalloenzyme Variants 966 6. Structure−Function Relationships in the Catalytic Active Site of CA 968 6.1. Effects of Ligands Directly Bound to Zn II 968 6.2. Effects of Indirect Ligands 969 7. Physical-Organic Models of the Active Site of CA 969 III. Using CA as a Model to Study Protein−Ligand Binding 970 8. Assays for Measuring Thermodynamic and Kinetic Parameters for Binding of Substrates and Inhibitors 970 8.1. Overview 970 8.