LONDON: It's the age-old question that has puzzled the finest minds for thousands of years — which came first: The chicken or the egg?

Now, scientists claim to have finally discovered the answer to the conundrum — it's the chicken which came first. A team from University of Sheffield and University of Warwick has found that a protein called ovocleidin (OC-17) is crucial in the formation of eggshells.

It is produced in the pregnant hen's ovaries so the correct reply to the egg riddle must be that the chicken came first, the experts say. However, the research does not come up with how the protein-producing chicken existed in the first place, the Daily Express reported on Wednesday.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/UK/Mystery-cracked-Chicken-came-first/articleshow/6169249.cms