Abstract
Spider silk was indicated to have an ice nucleation activity. In this study, ice nucleation activity of the spider silk was confirmed by the observation using a CCD video camera and an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM). Moreover, "equilibrium freezing" of water in polymer gels was induced by the addition of the spider silk used as an ice nucleator, which was shown by the measurement of differential scanning calorimetry. Ice nucleation activity of the spider silk, here indicated, may find an application in the field of biotechnology.
