Strawberry DNA Extraction

Strawberry DNA Extraction

I found this experiment to be very interesting because it gave us an opportunity to view DNA in its actual form, since the book we've been study has painted a somewhat abstract picture in my head about it.

The main chemical that we used in this lab was a DNA extraction buffer, and we made this before using the strawberries. It was composed of a mixture of dish-washing detergent, water, and salt. Its purpose was to break down the fatty membranes and the nuclear membranes of cells, and to break apart DNA from proteins.

measuring salt for the buffer

Once our buffer was formed, my lab partners and I managed to break apart the cells by inserting the strawberry into a bag and crushing it. Soon after, the juice leaked out into the vial that we had placed under it.

crushing strawberry cells

Finally, we mixed the vial of strawberry juice with our buffer, and watched as a clump of white-colored DNA floated to the top. The buffer had broken down the membranes of the strawberry cells, and separated the DNA from the proteins it was bonded to. We had isolated the DNA.

DNA (in white clump)

mixing the juice with the buffer

DNA clumps at the top of the vial