strawberry dna lab

IN THIS LAB, WE WILL BE ISOLATING DNA FROM

STRAWBERRIES AND ANALYZING IT UNDER A MICROSCOPE

procedure
the following procedure was followed in the lab video:

click here to watch the video

Materials Needed:

20mL 91% or 99% Isopropyl alcohol (put in the freezer)

25 mL Dish Soap (5 tsp)

5mL sodium chloride -aka salt (1 tsp)

500 mL of water (a little over 2 cups)

2 strawberries (frozen strawberries should be thawed)

1 Ziploc bag

1 clear cup or container

1 coffee filter or paper towel

1 pipet (or pencil, chopstick, coffee stirrer, etc)

Prepare the DNA Extraction Solution

mix together the following ingredients:

dish soap + salt + water

DNA Extraction

Remove leaves from the strawberries

Place strawberries in the ziploc bag and seal shut

Smash the strawberries through the bag

Add 10mL (2 tsp) of DNA Extraction Solution

Continue smashing, making sure everything is completely

mushed

Place the coffee filter over the top of the cup and

slowly pour the strawberry mixture into the paper towel,

letting it drip into the cup

Collect 3mL (about 1 tsp) of strawberry liquid - make

sure there are no chunks of strawberries!

Remove the isopropyl alcohol from the freezer

Add 20mL of the alcohol to the strawberry liquid

Wait a minute, then remove some DNA from the container

using your pipette

Place the DNA on the a microscope slide, then place a

slide cover on top

Analyze your slide under the microscope

background

In this lab, we used a few different materials in order to

help extract DNA from the strawberries. Let's explore why

we chose these materials, and the science behind how they

work.

STRAWBERRIES

Strawberries are a good choice for DNA extraction, as they

are considered octoploid, which means that they have

eight copies of each of their 7 chromosomes - totaling at

56 chromosomes. That's plenty of DNA for us to extract!

If we remember the structure of plant cells, we know that

plant cells are surrounded by both a cell membrane and a

cell wall. To get through the cell wall, we have to smash

the strawberries. This then reveals the cell membrane,

which is broken down by the dish soap.

DISH SOAP

If we remember the properties of acids and bases, we

might remember that bases are good at breaking down

fats. Soap is a mixture of a weak fatty acid and a strong

base known as a lye. Together, these allow soap to do two

things:

1. Decrease the surface tension of water

2. Create "bubbles" called micelles that form around the

dirt and grime and carry them away as we wash off the

soap

These micelles form because soap molecules are similar to

the molecules that surround our cells - they have a

hydrophobic (water fearing) and a hydrophilic (water

loving) end.

Because of this similarity, when the phospholipid bilayers

of our cells and their nucleus' are exposed to soap, the

membrane molecules mix with the soap molecules to form

micelles. This frees the DNA and allows us to extract it!

molecule structure micelle structure

soap membrane soap soap + membrane
-hydrophilic head-
grime
greasy,
gets
soapy
-hydrophobic tails- trapped
bubble
inside
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SALT

DNA is soluble (dissolves in) in water, but not in salty

water - unlike all the other parts of the cell, which are

soluble in both water and salty water. Therefore, by adding

salt to our DNA extraction solution, we are able to

separate the DNA from the rest of the cell.

ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL

The DNA is not soluble in the alcohol either - instead, the

alcohol causes the DNA to precipitate, which means it

turns into a solid - this is what we see in our test tube.

WHY DO WE USE COLD ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL?

To protect our cells from attacks by viruses and bacteria,

our cells have enzymes called DNase enzymes that chop up

any DNA floating outside of the nucleus. This same DNase

will attack our own DNA if it is not where it belongs, such

as out of the nucleus after we break the phospholipid

bilayers down with soap. To protect the DNA from the

DNase, we freeze the alcohol. The cooler temperature

slows down these enzymes, giving us a chance to isolate

the DNA.

analysis
USING THE INFORMATION FROM OUR NOTES AND WHAT WE OBSERVED

IN THE LAB, ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW:

Why did I choose to use frozen/thawed strawberries rather

than fresh strawberries?

What did you notice happen after I added the alcohol?

What did the DNA look like in the test tube? Were you

suprised?

What did the DNA look like under the microscope? Were you

suprised?
Where is DNA found in a cell?

In what form is DNA most commonly stored in the cell?

When in a cell's lifespan does DNA condense into

chromosomes?

In a short paragraph (3-5 sentences), explain the purpose

of the following lab ingredients: Salt, Soap, and Alcohol

We chose to use cold alcohol to protect the cells from the

DNase, which attack DNA outside of the nucleus. Meanwhile,

RNA regularly leaves the nucleus in order to complete the

process of transcription and translation.

Why do our cells perform transcription and translation?

What is the role of RNA Polymerase?

What is the difference between introns and exons?

How do the three types of RNA work together to complete

the process of translation and create proteins?