Eggscellent chemistry

They're an everyday miracle of chemistry, and delicious into the bargain. As NATHAN KILAH explains, there's a lot of science packed inside the shell.

There are few foods as versatile as the humble egg. These nutrient-filled packages are excellent scrambled, poached, or fried, and are essential in cakes, puddings, sou creams, sauces, drinks, cosmetics, vaccines and more. But what is it about the humble egg that makes it such an adaptable ingredient and scientifically useful object?

Chicken or egg?

First thing first: the egg definitely came first. The emergence of amniote eggs some 330 million years ago marked a significant evolutionary development as both the water and nutrients were available in the one package. This broadened the possible habitat of egg-laying creatures to varied terrestrial environments. Chickens are relatively recent, evolving around 60,000 years ago and were only domesticated 3000 years ago. The complexity and e ciency of the egg can’t be understated: the developing chick makes excellent use of the contents, especially as there is no way for wastes (other than carbon dioxide) to escape the shell...

For the full story on the complex chemistry that is the remarkable egg, head below to Cosmos 97 | Energy. Effort. Endeavour