'Unboil egg' device used for cancer drug

Cancer patients may become the beneficiaries of an Australian invention responsible for unboiling an egg.

Researchers used the vortex fluidic device to make carboplatin, a drug used to treat ovarian, lung and other cancers, four times more effective.

The device invented by biochemist Professor Colin Raston from Flinders University has been used by American scientists to uncook a hard-boiled egg by "unfolding" proteins to their natural state.

Prof Raston said proteins in a variety of products, including medications, tend to "misfold", rendering them useless, but the rotating device caused them to unwind and refold normally.

The new research involving the targeted delivery of carboplatin was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

"It's hoped the device will be able to be used for cancer patients to enhance the delivery of the drugs and to minimise the side effects," Prof Raston said.

The same drug would be used, but it would be done more effectively, in a smaller quantity.

The device could revolutionise the delivery and manufacture of a wide range of pharmaceutical processes and products by "streamlining the loading of drugs into nano-packages" for better results and less waste, he said.

Using more effective drugs would cut manufacturing waste, with up to half a tonne of waste generated from the production of just one kilogram of anti-cancer and other drugs.

"Much of the drugs end up in sewerage systems and possibly create superbugs in our environment," he said.

The device causes the proteins to refold normally by spinning the material in a liquid in a rapidly rotating tube that can be tilted at different angles.