Antifreeze proteins are found in insects, spiders, and cold water fish.  These important proteins prevent the growth of ice on the internal structures of these organisms by binding to preliminary ice crystals and preventing further ice development.  A lower temperature becomes required for ice crystals to form, which is a situation called thermal hysteresis.  Antifreeze proteins have been vigorously studied since the early 1980’s and have had their structures analyzed, their activity enhanced, and have been grown in Escherichia coli.  So far, these proteins have not had their effectiveness tested against the effectiveness of other antifreezes, such as glycerol in solutions of similar concentrations.  The purpose of this experiment is to find out if antifreeze proteins are as effective as glycerol in causing thermal hysteresis in water.  The effectiveness was determined by freezing solutions that contain the proteins or glycerol.  The freezing points were measured using data probes.  It was determined that the antifreeze proteins were not as effective as glycerol in lowering the freezing point of water, and, in fact, raised the freezing point of water very slightly.  Further studies include testing the antifreeze proteins in animal tissue and other solutions.

• Introduction
•  Methodology
•  Results
• Discussion/Conclusion
• Bibliography

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