UC Irvine chemists unboil egg; may help in cancer fight

IRVINE, Calif. -- They've accomplished quite a lot at University of California, Irvine over the years. But it's what researchers in the chemistry department have done now that's really raising eyebrows: They have unboiled an egg.

Chemists say many of the proteins in a healthy human body are a lot like the clear liquid in a raw egg. But when cancer strikes, those proteins take the form of a hard, plastic-y egg white.

So, what if you could reverse the process?

"If we can actually fold it properly and bring it to a state that's healthy, that would be phenomenal," said Mariam Iftikhar, a UC Irvine researcher.

So they used an egg to simulate the process. They cooked the egg whites in vials, then added chemicals to liquefy it, and took that solution and put it in a machine.

The machine spins the mixture at a 45-degree angle and at 5,000 revolutions per minute for five minutes.

"He takes it out, and it's completely clear," Iftikhar said. "It completely went back to its normal state. We were so shocked."

Researchers say they're about a year away from being able to apply the technique toward actually fighting cancer.