Project Grant 2203527

This three-year, $162,238 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) supports collaborative research between Yale University, Stony Brook University, and researchers at examining and developing biomimetic peptides that inhibit ice formation. The researchers aim to understand and mimic antifreeze proteins in nature to generate synthetic antifreeze molecules for applications such as biological material preservation, food processing and storage, and preventing ice growth on aircraft and offshore platforms. Specifically, the researchers will design antifreeze protein mimetics with less complex structures than natural proteins, study their interactions with water using computational modeling and experiments, and determine how structure influences antifreeze efficacy. The project is expected to advance the design of biomimetics that can control ice nucleation and growth. It will also provide research training for three graduate and two undergraduate students.