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Source: Thinkstock
British scientists believe they have cracked the answer to the
age-old question of which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Researchers have found that a protein called ovocleidin (OC-17) is
crucial in the formulation of eggshells, and it is produced in the
pregnant hen's ovaries, the Daily Express reports.
Therefore, the answer to the conundrum must be that the chicken
came first.
Using a high-tech computer to look at the molecular structure of a
shell, the team of scientists from the Universities of Sheffield
and Warwick found that OC-17 acts as a catalyst, kick-starting the
conversion of calcium carbonate in the chicken's body into calcite
crystals.
They make up the hard shell that houses the yolk and its protective
fluids while the chick develops.
"It had long been suspected that the egg came first but now we have
the scientific proof that shows that in fact the chicken came
first," said Dr Colin Freeman, from Sheffield University.
"The protein had been identified before and it was linked to egg
formation but by examining it closely we have been able to see how
it controls the process."
But the researchers have not yet got an answer to how the
protein-producing chicken existed in the first place.
