Surprising Science — January 29, 2015

How the Unboiled Egg Will Contribute to Cancer Research

Earlier this week, scientists at UC Irvine revealed that they have learned how to unboil an egg. Their discovery could lead to the development of a protein restoration system that would be a major asset in the fight against cancer.

Robert Montenegro

You may have heard earlier this week that scientists in California have managed to unboil an egg and restore egg whites back into liquid form. On the surface, that sounds like little more than a neat science fair trick. Peter Edwards of The Toronto Starexplains why the unboiled egg could lead to major medical breakthroughs:

“Scientists say they’ve figured out how to unboil an egg, and that this is a very good thing for cancer research and food production… This means harnessing the ability to quickly restore proteins, which would be invaluable in fighting cancer.”

That’s right. Those restored egg whites are almost 100% protein. According to UC Irvine Professor Gregory Weiss at UC Irvine, who helped oversee the research, the same process used to unboil the egg is to soon be tested on cancer-associated proteins.

Read more at The Star and The Daily Beast

Photo credit: Piyathep / Shutterstock

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