How 'Unboiling' an Egg Could Make Treating Cancer Cheaper

When you apply heat to an egg, you are putting it through a process called "denaturation." This disrupts some of the protein bonds that hold molecular shapes in order. Without these bonds, fractured proteins can suddenly clump and tangle.

In this way, you can almost think of egg whites like a ribbon or streamer. When flat and smooth, a ribbon can flutter through the air with fluidity. However, once it's marred by bends, kinks, and knots, its can no longer move as freely.

In the case of egg whites, once their proteins have tangled, they stiffen, becoming the opaque solids that make our breakfasts and salad toppings.

However, denaturation doesn't just occur on the stovetop. The production of cancer antibodies, for instance, often results in the misfolding of protein structures. The result is that "gummy" goo that Weiss mentioned earlier. To avoid this, pharmaceutical companies often choose to create antibodies in the ovary cells of hamsters - an environment that is unlikely to cause a misfold. Unfortunately, this process is extremely lab intensive, and heavily raises the cost of cancer treatments.

Weiss and his colleagues argue that it would be simpler and more cost-effective to merely reverse instances of denaturation instead of taking the pains to ensure it doesn't occur in the first place. That, of course, is where 'unboiling' an egg comes in.

"In our paper, we describe a device for pulling apart tangled proteins and allowing them to refold," the team reported. "We start with egg whites boiled for 20 minutes at 90 degrees Celsius [194 Fahrenheit] and return a key protein in the egg to working order."

According to the study, they accomplished this by first applying a urea substance that forces solid materials into a temporary liquefied state. Even with this done, much of the whites still contain clumped proteins that are largely unusable. That's when Weiss and his team put the boiled whites in a "vortex fluid device" that untangles the proteins using physical stress. Microfluidic films then help the rattled proteins slide back into their untangled, proper forms.

"This method," the researchers write, "could transform industrial and research production of proteins," simplifying processes, saving time, and cutting costs across numerous industries.

And if you just really didn't want your egg boiled, well, they can fix that too.

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