Lab-Made Fish Blood Protein Prevents Ice Cream Freezer Burn
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Synthetic Fish Protein prevents freezing of food and Drugs
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A synthesized version of a fish blood protein prevents food and drugs from freezing, researchers report.
Anyone who has experienced freezer burn knows that ice crystals can be a problem at low temperatures. Ice crystals’ jagged edges can do more than just ruin the texture of your ice cream, however. At a microscopic level,they can destroy the structure of living cells or biological medicines,like enzymes and antibodies,which nevertheless must be transported at freezing temperatures.
The problem with freezing
the formation of ice crystals is a significant challenge in preserving biological materials. These crystals physically disrupt cellular structures, leading to cell death or reduced efficacy of biological drugs. Customary methods of cryopreservation often involve complex and expensive processes to minimize ice crystal formation.
The antifreeze in your car-ethylene glycol-is toxic, so it isn’t a solution for foods or drugs. Instead, researchers have turned to nature for inspiration: fish that inhabit polar waters have proteins in their blood that prevent them from freezing.
Mimicking Nature’s Antifreeze
Now,researchers from the University of Utah’s john and Marcia Price College of Engineering have devised a way to make a stripped-down,synthetic version of that protein,simple enough to be manufactured at scale,but powerful enough to inhibit the formation of ice crystals at sub-zero temperatures.
The researchers demonstrated the effectiveness of their mimic polypeptides on several real-world test cases, including ice cream and the anti-cancer drug Trastuzumab.The former was successfully chilled down to minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit,while the latter survived temperatures as low as minus 323 degrees F.
Study Details and Results
The study, funded by the National Science Foundation, was published in the journal Advanced Materials. It was led by Jessica Kramer,an associate professor in the biomedical engineering department,and Thomas McParlton,a graduate student in her lab.
For decades, researchers have eyed the naturally occurring antifreeze proteins found in arctic and Antarctic fish. These proteins bind to the surface of small ice crystals,preventing them from growing larger and