Girl on Fire: Unboiled eggs leads to improved scientific process

[As seen in Creston News Advertiser, February 5, 2015]

Can you imagine boiling an egg while you whip up breakfast one morning, and then deciding you would rather have pancakes, so you unboil that egg?

A study done by a group of scientists with University of California, Irvine, in California, University of Western Australia and Flinders University, both in Australia, discovered a way to unboil an egg, which could lead the food, pharmacy and environmental industries to save billions of dollars in the future.

I read a story on National Public Radio‘s website, www.npr.org, describing in easily understandable detail that the scientists boiled an egg, which unfolded the proteins in the egg white. They then dissolved the egg white with a chemical and blended the mixture together until the proteins were folded again into their previously held structure, which determines what activity they do.

The proteins were then back to approximately 85 percent of their original activity.

The story’s sources said the process is not necessarily needed for certain industries just yet, but for others, it can help greatly, such as in the cancer research industry.

I was pleasantly surprised when cancer was brought up in the discussion, because one does not think of cancer being related to the preparation of eggs. However, researchers developing ways of preventing or treating cancer can rest a little easier because, instead of using proteins in their research and bringing them back to their original state after days of work, they can bring them back after five minutes.

I have always been a proponent of science expanding and building our world into one that’s even better than before. And, I think this is a great example of that.

The discovery will allow for cancer treatment researchers to spend more time doing their jobs, instead of waiting for the proteins to be folded again, which in turn leads to less money spent during that waiting period.

I know I’m not the only one who has a personal connection to a thing like cancer, so I truly hope this new science is just the beginning. The wonders of science are mind-boggling, that someone can truly scramble and unscramble an egg, and create a new way to research cancer treatments.