Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Scientists Determine New Way To Untangle Proteins By Unboiling an Egg

Posted by samzenpus on from the I-would-like-my-eggs-undone-please dept.

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.'"

18 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. Wow .... by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That's pretty cool.

    Imagine, a seasoning which turned your tough steak back from being shoe leather. :-P

    Un-boiling an egg, the mind boggles.

    I wonder what wacky applications chefs will come up with for this one. I can see some of the molecular gastronomy folks doing some odd things.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Wow .... by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 3, Funny

      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.

    2. Re:Wow .... by TWX · · Score: 4, Funny

      I guess the next step is to un-fry a chicken.

      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.
    3. Re:Wow .... by Marginal+Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      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...

    4. Re:Wow .... by Rei · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's a two-step process. The first is a chemical that dissolves the proteins (still in their "cooked" folding), and the second is some sort of centrifuge or similar (they don't go into details on the device in the article) that subjects the proteins to very high sheer strain, effectively mechanically unfolding them so that they can then relax back into their natural state.

      Not exactly a spice you can sprinkle onto your steak, but still pretty neat. :)

      --
      Crowd: What do we want? Fry: Fry's dog! Crowd: When do we want it? Fry: Fry's dog!
    5. Re:Wow .... by Hotawa+Hawk-eye · · Score: 3, Informative

      From what I gathered from the article, a particular cancer medication needs to be produced using expensive materials (hamster ovaries) because the proteins produced by the ovaries don't get tangled up for some reason. Producing those proteins in a less expensive material (E. coli, yeast) would lead to tangling of the proteins. If they can use the less expensive material and detangle the proteins for less than the cost of producing the proteins in the hamster ovaries, the price of the medication would (hopefully) go down and the supply would increase.

      So the next step is to un-tangle proteins produced from yeast, I guess.

    6. Re:Wow .... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      At the bottom of website you posted:

      The FDA now requires that eggs must be packaged and refrigerated within 36 hours. We exceed these newest standards. This minimizes Salmonella from growing in or on the eggs. One should assume, most raw foods may have some level of bacteria and as usual we advise that all eggs be properly cooked to a temperature of 165F to ensure destruction of any Salmonella and to wash hands with soap after handling eggs. After all we do live in a world of microbes.

      Eat safely,

      Phoenix's Egg Farm

      That kinda contradicts your statement.

    7. Re:Wow .... by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 4, Funny

      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
  2. Cryptography is lost by MiKom · · Score: 5, Funny

    So much for using egg scrambling as analogue to hash functions.

  3. Hamster Ovaries by Mystakaphoros · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

    1. Re:Hamster Ovaries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      This may be, to date, the most I have ever thought about hamster ovaries.

      Your xHamster browsing history says otherwise.

  4. Unboil a hen egg? by ArcherB · · Score: 5, Funny

    '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.
  5. im sure the academic notes are riveting. by nimbius · · Score: 5, Funny

    "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.
    1. Re:im sure the academic notes are riveting. by itzly · · Score: 3, Informative

      the flatulence is unbearable (worse than the 2002 methane leak...)

      Methane is odourless. Egg farts stink because of the hydrogen sulfide and similar compounds.

  6. undead by roman_mir · · Score: 3, Funny

    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.
  7. Hard-cooked eggs shouldn't be in boiling water by raymorris · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Hard-cooked and soft-cooked eggs should be cooked in water just below boiling. Quoting the best selling cookbook in history, Betty Crocker's Cookbook:

    2. Heat to boiling in saucepan; REMOVE FROM HEAT. Cover and let stand 18 minutes. Immediately cool briefly in cold water to prevent further cooking. Tap egg to crack shell; roll egg between hands to loosen shell, then peel.

    (emphasis mine)

    If you keep the water boiling, you get that nasty green film and the albumen becomes rubbery.

  8. Correct paper link by OverlordQ · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com...

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
  9. Re:Boiled at 90C? by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 3, Insightful

    0 is the freezing point and 100 is the boiling point at normal pressure. How is that arbitrary?

    LOL. Let me help you:

    1. the freezing point (arbitrary but easily observable state)
    2. of pure water with no dissolved substances (arbitrary but common chemical compound)
    3. at sea level (arbitrary but easily located place)
    4. at normal atmospheric pressure
    5. on earth (arbitrary but very convenient location)
    6. is 0 degrees (arbitrary value which kind of makes sense until you realize that you can still get colder)
    7. and the boiling point of water at sea level on earth at normal atmospheric pressure (previous comments still apply)
    8. is 100 degrees (arbitrary number chosen for convenience of the units - "10" would be too course grained and "1000" would be too fine grained)

    So, yes, the celsius scale is arbitrary, the Fahrenheit only slightly more so. At least the celsius scale can be kind of reproduced in a pinch if you're at sea level and normal pressure and you have water and the ability to freeze and heat it. But, then, if you have all that you can reproduce the Fahrenheit scale, too.

    For an idea of a less arbitrary scale look at the Kelvin scale. On it, "0" is the absolute lowest temperature where matter has absolutely no heat content. Of course the scale is the same as celsius so it still ends up being arbitrary in scale, which *any* temperature scale will be. But "0" being "absolute 0" is what sets it apart.

    --
    Do you have ESP?