Fairy Liquid unveiled as secret ingredient in University of Cambridge scientists’ near-universal magic formula

After eight years of searching, involving tests on more than 1,000 different combinations, University of Cambridge researchers have unveiled the secret ingredient used in their scientific experiments: Fairy washing-up liquid.

A new protocol – a publication providing step-by-step instructions – that describes how the magic formula can benefit laboratories around the world has become a hit, making the top three per cent of all research outputs, as scored by Altmetric.

The senior author is Prof Adrian Liston, a professor of pathology at the University of Cambridge and fellow of St Catharine’s, who explained how the addition of Fairy Original to a mixture of lab chemicals can be applied to cells for use in a range of experiments.

“Laboratories around the world often study the inside of our cells, which means scientists need to destroy the membrane that encases a cell, so we can look in, while trying to preserve everything inside, so we can see what is in there,” he explained.

“Getting this balance right between destruction and preservation is a really difficult chemistry problem, and often needs different sets of expensive chemicals depending on what we are trying to look at.”

Dr Oliver Burton, an assistant research professor in the Liston Group, spent eight years testing combinations to uncover the best mixture.

The magic formula contained 2 per cent formalin (an aqueous solution of formaldehyde), 0.5 per cent Tween-20 (a specialist detergent used in laboratories), 0.1 per cent Triton X-100 (a surfactant used in laboratories) and 0.05 per cent Fairy washing-up liquid.

Prof Liston said: “Thanks to Oliver’s determination, we now have a single chemical treatment – named ‘Burton’s Best Buffer’ in his honour – that works well for nearly every purpose in laboratories like ours.

“It is as close to a ‘universal protocol’ as anyone has achieved before.

“It just happens that the now not-so-secret ingredient in our protocol is a common washing-up liquid, Fairy Original. That means we have not only solved a really tough chemical problem, but we’ve also solved it in a way that is readily accessible to scientists even in resource-limiting environments – our combination is at least 100 times cheaper than the next best commercial kits.”

The Fairy Liquid is useful as it breaks down lipids that form the cell membrane – just as it helps break down fat on your dinner plates.