The denaturation of proteins can be observed in a frying pan. (Image: Matthew Murdoch / flickr.com)
Some organisms are able to survive in hot springs, while others can only live at mild temperatures because their proteins aren't able to withstand such extreme heat. ETH researchers investigated these differences and showed that often only a few key proteins determine the life and heat-induced death of a cell. Crack open an egg, let it slide into a hot frying pan and almost immediately the transparent and slippery egg white becomes white and firm. What you casually observe when frying an egg is an important biochemical phenomenon called protein denaturation. Proteins are produced in cells as thread-like molecules, which then mass together into a protein-specific structure: some are spherical, others tubular. These structures disintegrate during denaturation; the proteins become thread-like again and as a result lose their function. Denaturation in one fell swoop?.
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