Spatio-temporal scaling laws in a heated egg yolk
ABSTRACT :
Denaturation, aggregation and gelation of proteins and lipids are biologically relevant out-of equilibrium processes which are coupled by a hierarchy of length, time and energy scales. Finding the characteristic scaling laws governing these processes on the relevant time and length scales is necessary to predict the changes of biomolecules to future time scales. We use heated egg yolk as a model system to reveal the spatio-temporal relationships underlying these intricate processes for a wide range of time and temperature combinations. Our study demonstrates how in-situ low-dose X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy experiments at the international synchrotron station provide insight into the complexity of the processes in a multicomponent heterogeneous biological system.