The anaerobic process in human cells that breaks down glucose and produces lactate as a product is .

The anaerobic process in human cells that breaks down glucose and produces lactate as a product is called Glycolysis. Here are the steps:

1. Glucose enters the cell and is phosphorylated by the enzyme hexokinase, which converts glucose to glucose-6-phosphate. This step uses one ATP molecule.

2. Glucose-6-phosphate is rearranged into fructose-6-phosphate by the enzyme phosphoglucose isomerase.

3. Another ATP molecule is used to convert fructose-6-phosphate into fructose-1,6-bisphosphate by the enzyme phosphofructokinase.

4. Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate is split into two three-carbon sugars: dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (G3P) by the enzyme aldolase.

5. DHAP is converted into G3P. Now, there are two molecules of G3P.

6. Each G3P is oxidized to 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate by the enzyme glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase. In this step, two NADH molecules are produced.

7. Each 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate donates a high-energy phosphate to ADP, forming one ATP and a 3-phosphoglycerate. This step is catalyzed by the enzyme phosphoglycerate kinase.

8. 3-phosphoglycerate is converted to 2-phosphoglycerate by the enzyme phosphoglycerate mutase.

9. 2-phosphoglycerate is converted to phosphoenolpyruvate by the enzyme enolase.

10. Phosphoenolpyruvate is converted to pyruvate by the enzyme pyruvate kinase. This step produces two ATP molecules.

In the absence of oxygen, the pyruvate is then converted to lactate by the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase. This process is called lactic acid fermentation.