Scientists have found a way to ‘unboil’ eggs – and it could be a life-saver

It may not sound like the most useful of scientific endeavours, but the methods used to turn a hard-boiled egg back into its liquid state could bring major benefits to areas as diverse as cheese-making and cancer researchIt sounds like the breakthrough that no one was asking for: scientists have announced they have managed to “unboil” an egg. In a disgusting-sounding experiment that you probably shouldn’t try at home, an international team of researchers have used urea, one of the main components of urine, and a “vortex fluid device” to uncook a hen’s egg. They believe the findings could dramatically reduce costs in processes as far apart as cheese manufacturing and cancer research.The researchers boiled an egg for 20 minutes, before focusing on returning one protein in the egg white to its previous state. The idea was to combat the difficulties that arise when proteins “misfold”, forcing scientists to use time-consuming methods to untangle misfolded proteins or expensive methods to ensure the proteins don’t get tangled up in the first place. Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Eggs Science Cancer Medical research Food & drink Life and style Source Type: news