Slashdot Mirror
Scientists Determine New Way To Untangle Proteins By Unboiling an Egg
An anonymous reader sends word of this biotech breakthrough. "Univ. of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) and Australian chemists have figured out how to unboil egg whites—an innovation that could dramatically reduce costs for cancer treatments, food production and other segments of the $160 billion global biotechnology industry, according to findings published in ChemBioChem. 'Yes, we have invented a way to unboil a hen egg,' said Gregory Weiss, UCI professor of chemistry and molecular biology & biochemistry. 'In our paper, we describe a device for pulling apart tangled proteins and allowing them to refold. We start with egg whites boiled for 20 min at 90 C and return a key protein in the egg to working order.'"
So much for using egg scrambling as analogue to hash functions.
Today I learned that cancer antibodies are often made in hamster ovaries. This may be, to date, the most I have ever thought about hamster ovaries.
'Yes, we have invented a way to unboil a hen egg,
Let me know when they can unboil a rooster egg. Now that will be something.
There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
Un-boiling an egg, the mind boggles.
I read the article, and still can't figure out what they are really doing or how they are really gonna use it, seems to be a processing technique more than a production technique. Somehow I suspect the unboiled whites are not quite the same as the original.
I guess the next step is to un-fry a chicken.
"Lab journal: Is frank doing this on purpose? our new UC Irvine lab PhD is a fan of eggs. Eggs for brekky, eggs for lunch and tea, eggs at dinner...eggs. Normally im not one to complain about a fellow academics choice of meal but the flatulence is unbearable (worse than the 2002 methane leak and that says a lot.) After confronting him i got the usual, condescending american 'he who smelt it delt it huh buddy?' Yah, Nah. From now on im on a mission. I will un-boil his god damn eggs if its the last thing I ever do."
Good people go to bed earlier.
There's a particular Wendy's that I won't eat at; they seem to have mastered this technique based on what I've been served between two pieces of bread.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
So they can restore the denaturated proteins to their original state... which basically is a step towards reviving the dead, however weird that sounds.... Undead chickens will take over.
You can't handle the truth.
Un-boiling an egg, the mind boggles.
Yes, but if these researchers think they're so darn smart, let's see 'em put toothpaste back into the tube...
Sadly if you RTF[A/S] they say:
We start with egg whites boiled for 20 min at 90 C and return a key protein in the egg to working order.
One key protein does not make an egg.
And we can be thankful for that! Otherwise we'd end up having brunch with some asshat who wants his eggs "unboiled three minutes, served with bearnaise sauce on the side and two slices of sour dough bread toasted to be crisp but not darkened"... and you end up wondering are they going to spit in everyone's food or just his?
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office