Antifreeze protein hydration waters: Unstructured unless bound to ice

Marks and Patel discuss on how do fish, insects, and other organisms survive in frigid polar environments. They do so with the help of remarkable molecules known as antifreeze proteins (AFPs), which suppress freezing and associated cell death despite being present at concentrations of less than 1 wt %. AFPs are able to suppress freezing at such low concentrations because, unlike antifreeze, they do not rely on altering the inherent structure of water; instead, they bind to nascent ice nuclei and prevent them from growing.