We have an example in an article that appeared in 1999 in the journal Poultry Science , which translated means ” the science of poultry” . In the December issue, a team of British and Israeli researchers described a way to get one type of hen, the Leghorn, to lay larger eggs.
The scientists were not stupid because for their experiment they chose a superimposer: originally from Tuscany, this hen is capable of laying an average of 290 eggs per year . All thanks to the artificial selection that breeders -especially English- have carried out for more than a century. And, to the delight of the ranchers, he eats little. Now, as a result of this selection the Lenhorn has totally lost her maternal instinct and never gets broody. Why waste time if there are too many eggs to lay?
Well, what this group of researchers achieved is that their eggs weighed 4 grams more . How they did it? Making them smell a substance found in human urine, 2-methoxy-3-isobutylpyrazine, one of the five pyrazines that we can find in our pee. But let’s not think that we are the only ones: we also find it in the scent glands of beavers, in the urine of coyote and in the feces of rabbits. You don’t really want to smell it, do you? Well, it is also found in the Cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet franc and Merlot grape varieties, which gives the wines herbaceous tones, like green pepper. And not only that, but this molecule is used as a flavor enhancer in the food industry: and to think that something that is in the poop of rabbits helps us to know things better …
The researchers were not very clear why this happened – and we do not know of any subsequent research that clarifies it – but the hypothesis at play is that this pyrazine causes a delay in the appearance of lutropin, a hormone that controls ovulation and which in chickens is responsible for releasing the eggs from the oviduct: as it stays there longer, it continues to add yolk and albumin.
Lutropin plays an important role in human ovulation and by measuring its concentration it can be used to determine the fertile days. In fact, there are several kits that allow calculating, by means of the classic “peeing on the stick”, the fertile days of a woman.
Have you noticed the game that gives a simple molecule with an almost unpronounceable name?
