Last Monday, our lab group completed the Strawberry DNA lab. We did this to show DNA structure, and what it looks like in real life. It was also to show us how easy it is to extract DNA. My hypothesis for this lab is that when you extract DNA, you can see it clearly floating around. This lab was completed in a few steps. First, we made the extraction buffer out of dish washing detergent, salt, and water. We then put the strawberry and the extraction fluid together and mixed it. After that happened, we isolated the DNA using a funnel and cheesecloth. Finally, we added ice cold alcohol to separate the juice and the DNA.
Picture of the Cheesecloth and the funnel.
DNA Final Extraction. The white swirly stuff near the top is the DNA.
This is us pouring in the extraction fluid.
My hypothesis was proved because when you extracted the DNA the DNA was clear at the top. I feel like DNA can be manipulated once extracted like this. This lab made me realize how easy it is to find DNA. I also think that there is a lot of DNA in a small area. We took one strawberry and found a bunch of DNA. The resulting DNA was smaller than I expected, but it still was very large compared to the rest of biological material.
