A team of researchers identified a protein that binds air, fat, and water and can be used to develop an ice cream that takes longer to melt.

According to The Guardian, the protein called BslA can also help with manufacturing ice cream as well as improving the overall quality. The researchers even found the protein was lessening the ice cream's calories.

"We are predicting that you should be able to eat an ice cream cone without the ice cream dribbling down the side," Cait MacPhee, a University of Edinburgh researcher who led the study, told CBS News. "They protect themselves by producing this protein and that protein goes to the outer surface of this community and makes a film that we dubbed a bacterial raincoat - it becomes basically water repellent.

"That means if there are any other bugs in the environment that want to attack our friendly bacteria, they can't get through because they bounce off. It's a pretty clever strategy."

The Guardian noted the protein "naturally" appears in some foods, as wel as "friendly bacteria."

"It melts more slowly, which was the big finding, but the ice crystals - you know when you have ice cream in your freezer for any extended time and you can get a gritty sensation in your mouth - it slows that down as well because the ice crystals can't grow as quickly," MacPhee told CBS News. "We haven't actually tasted it yet. But what we are replacing is a small molecule that is there in a small amount.

"So it shouldn't have an impact on the taste because there is very little of it in there at all. There won't be any impact on the way it feels in your mouth either because the structure is the same."