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Researchers unboil an egg to untangle proteins
Shayne Jacopian for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Have you ever boiled an egg and then thought, “Dang it, I wish I hadn’t boiled that egg?” Well, you’re in luck—chemists have figured out how to unboil eggs! What a time to be alive!
Researchers at the University of California at Irvine, as well as Australian chemists, have figured out how to reverse the tangling of proteins that occurs when egg whites are boiled. Gregory Weiss, professor of chemistry, microbiology, and biochemistry at UCI says that he as well as many researchers have long struggled to produce or recycle valuable molecular proteins because they “misfold” and are thus rendered useless.
Citing the unboiling of eggs as simply a demonstration of the power of this new technique for salvaging otherwise useless protein material, Weiss’ method involves adding a urea substance to the hard egg whites, liquefying them. Then, a machine developed by Professor Colin Raston’s lab at Flinder’s University in South Australia untangles the proteins at the molecular level.
Where might this be useful? In the pharmaceutical industry, this method could save a lot of money—comparable methods of reforming proteins take about four days to do their thing, whereas this one takes only a few minutes. Additionally, this could replace more expensive methods of antibody production. Instead of growing cancer-fighting antibodies in pricey hamster ovary cells, manufacturers can save some cash by using Weiss’ new method.
In a $160 billion global biotechnology industry, changes like this add up.
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Source: http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113322867/researchers-unboil-an-egg-to-untangle-proteins-012815/
