People often say that once you boil an egg, it is impossible to unboil it. Scientists at UC Irvine have proven this statement untrue. They have successfully unboiled and egg. After boiling an egg, the proteins in both the egg white and egg yolk denature; which explains why a slimy raw egg turns solid after cooking it. The once long strands of protein in the egg are broken and tangled after heat is applied to it. Burt UC Irvine's Gregory Weissaid, a biochemist, said in a statement, "In our paper, we describe a device for pulling apart tangled proteins and allowing them to refold". Adding urea to the cooked eggs liquefied it by breaking the knotted proteins into smaller bits. These "broken" proteins are then place in a 'vortex fluid device' that pieces the proteins back together within minutes- a significant improvement from older methods of reconstitution, which often took days. Unboiling eggs are cool, that is not the main focus of the researchers. Often times denatured protein remains glued on to the sides of test tubes, and scientists spend way too much time trying scrape it off. In order to mitigate this, the researchers have designed this fast new method, hoping that it will find use in industries from cheese making to pharmaceuticals.
Hm this almost seems too cool to be true. Are there other applications that this technology can have that might be more prodigious than uncoiling eggs and cleaning test tubes?
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