British researchers may
have uncovered a partial answer to the age-old question,
"what came first the chicken or the egg?"
According
to a team, comprising researchers from the University of
Warwick and the University of Sheffield, the answer is
"chicken" or at least a particular chicken protein.
There is,
however, a further twist - this particular chicken
protein turns out to come both first and last. That neat
trick it performs provides new insights into control of
crystal growth which is key to egg shell production.
Scientists
have long believed that a chicken eggshell protein
called ovocledidin-17 (OC-17) must play some role in egg
shell formation. The protein is found only in the
mineral region of the egg (the hard part of the shell)
and lab bench results showed that it appeared to
influence the transformation of (CaCo3) into calcite
crystals. The mechanism of this control remained
unclear. How this process could be used to form an
actual eggshell remained unclear.
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