The team's study presents the first direct measurements of the superheating of ice crystals in
antifreeze protein solutions, according to Celik.
Low temperature extrusion means costly equipment and the crystals tend to grow, conventional stabilizers have only a slight effect and
antifreeze protein additives tend to harden the product itself.
Canadian scientists from the Department of Biochemistry at Queens University, in Kingston, Ontario, discovered an
antifreeze protein in snow fleas that may increase the shelf life of human organs for transplantation.
Called AFP, or
antifreeze protein, the molecule directs ice-crystal formation.
Scientists at Kansai University said Tuesday they have succeeded in efficiently extracting
antifreeze protein from pond smelts, allowing for the substance to be used in a wide range of areas such as food and medicine.
The company behind the research, A/F Protein, a Seabright branch, says when its
antifreeze protein was introduced into Atlantic salmon, "it resulted in the production of salmon that grow dramatically faster than standard salmon".
In 1991, DNAP successfully field-trialed tomatoes which had been genetically engineered to express the
antifreeze protein.
Davis, CA 95616) are involved in
antifreeze protein research.
This
antifreeze protein and others like it circulate in the blood of many Arctic and Antarctic fish, binding to the surface of ice crystals to prevent them from growing too large.
Cheng had first searched a database of sequenced genes for any similarity to the D NA sequence of the gene for the
antifreeze protein.
Yang of the University of Pittsburgh and his colleagues worked with an
antifreeze protein -- rich in the amino acid alanine -- isolated from the winter flounder.
Other recent experiments focus on the way ice crystals scatter light when an
antifreeze protein is present.
