Question

Every time you cook something you are denaturing (unfolding) its proteins. The application of heat breaks apart the hydrogen bonds that keep the protein folded­­ just like the pineapple demonstration I did in class. Consider the white of an egg that changes from jiggly and transparent to solid and white. Scientists went through a lot of effort to figure out how to “unboil” an egg. Why do you think it is relatively easy for us to denature proteins, but difficult to renature (refold) them? Why should we care about figuring out how to “unboil” an egg?