Today, I along with my lab partner, took part in a lab to extract the DNA from just an ordinary strawberry. In this post, I will go over each of the steps of the lab and how is affects the strawberry.
Materials:
Zip lock plastic bag
1 Strawberry
10mL DNA extraction buffer
Gauze cut into squares
Funnel
Ice cold ethanol
Plastic transfer pipette
Clear test tube
Step 1: Create DNA Extraction Buffer:Makes 50mL (enough for 5 extractions)
Materials
5mL liquid dish washing detergent or shampoo
.75g salt
45mL water
Measure detergent and water into a measuring cylinder, weigh out the salt and combine ingredients into a bottle or beaker.
Step 2: Wash strawberry, remove the leaves, and put into the zip-lock bag. Add in 10mL of the extraction buffer into the zip-lock bag. After making sure all air bubbles are gone, seal the bag and crush the strawberry for about 1 minute. NOTE: Do not crush the strawberry for too much for it will cause the DNA to degrade.
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Crushing the strawberries with the extraction buffer. |
Crushing the strawberries breaks open the strawberry cells which exposes the nuclei, where the DNA is stored. The detergent contained in the buffer mixture break down the the phospholipid membrane of the nucleus which releases the DNA. Because the DNA strands will repel each other, the sodium ions of the salt will neutralize the charge and even attract each other. This will result in the DNA to clump together.
Step 3: Place funnel lined with gauze into the test tube.
Step 4: Pour the strawberry DNA extraction buffer mixture into the gauze and filter the mixture into the tube through the gauze.
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Filtering the strawberry pulp. |
This only filters out all of the debris, including cell walls. The DNA is dissolved in the extraction buffer and will pass through.
Step 5: Keep the liquid filtered into the tube and discard the gauze and the strawberry pulp.
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Here is the strawberry extract. |
What Are You Seeing?
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This is how the final product should turn out. |
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