Scientists have found a way to unboil an egg in minutes. The discovery may not sound very interesting but it may pave way for cheaper food production and cheaper cancer treatments.
Researchers at the University of California (UC), Irvine suggest that the hard-boiled egg white in solid form can be changed to the liquid form again. The egg-white represents tangled proteins and scientists used a urea substance and a device to detangle the protein.
The latest discovery may have financial implications in the biotechnology industry that produces expensive drugs for cancer treatment. Biotechnology companies have struggled for a long time to efficiently re-cycle molecular proteins, which forces drug makers to opt for expensive methods.
Cheap proteins usually tend to fold in flawed structural shapes. Current recycling processes are expensive and at the same time very time consuming. However, the new process can detangle proteins very quickly.
"The new process takes minutes. It speeds things up by a factor of thousands," says Gregory Weiss, a professor of chemistry and molecular biology and biochemistry at UC, Irvine.
The time-saving aspect of the latest process may streamline as well as simplify the creation of proteins than many cancer drugs depend upon.
Pharmaceutical companies currently use ovary cells of hamster to create cancer antibodies as rarely waste protein. However, this approach is quite expensive.
The unboiling egg approach can be applied to inexpensive protein like E. coli bacteria or yeast that can facilitate an economical and efficient production of cancer antibodies.
If pharmaceutical companies can produce drugs with cheaper protein and faster, it suggests that these companies will pass on some savings to the cancer patients who are dependent of drugs.
Millions of people are diagnosed with cancer each year and many people die from some type of cancer every year worldwide. Cancer prevention and treatment organizations will hope that the latest discovery reduces the cost of cancer antibodies, which may help save the lives of thousands of people each year.
Food crisis is a rising problem globally and increased demand in food may result in shortage of food in the near future. The latest discovery may help food producers, for instance industrial cheese production that use protein, to get higher yield at a cheaper price.
