British scientists crack the chicken vs. egg mystery

British scientists have discovered that egg formation is only possible by a protein found in chickens' ovaries. That means eggs must be formed in chickens first, which now solves that age-old question.

Dr Colin Freeman, from Sheffield University's Department of Engineering Materials, said: "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. "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. "It's very interesting to find that different types of avian species seem to have a variation of the protein that does the same job." As reported by Fox News, the protein found in a chicken's ovaries, ovocledidin-17 (OC-17), speeds up the development of the egg shell. Researchers from England's Sheffield and Warwick universities "used a supercomputer to zoom in on the formation of an egg and realized the protein is vital in kick-starting the crystallization process. It works by converting calcium carbonate into the calcite crystals that make up the egg shell." The scientists are hoping this discovery will lead to the invention of new materials.