Do frozen strawberries work for DNA extraction?

Fresh or frozen strawberries can be used. Be sure to thaw the frozen berries at room temperature. Bananas or kiwi fruit can also be used but yield less DNA. 95\% ethanol or 91 or 100\% isopropyl alcohol can be used to precipitate the DNA.

Why do we use ice in DNA extraction?

Using ice-cold water and ice-cold alcohol will increase your yield of DNA. The cold water protects the DNA by slowing down enzymes that can break it apart. If the cell and nuclear membranes are still intact, the DNA will be stuck in the bottom layer.

Why do strawberries make such good specimens to extract DNA from?

Students will use strawberries to extract DNA samples. Introduction: One of the reasons strawberries work so great is that they are soft and easy to pulverize. Also, ripe strawberries produce pectinases and cellulases, which are already breaking down the cell walls.

Why did the strawberries need to be mashed to extract the DNA?

What’s the purpose of mashing up the berries? DNA is not soluble in alcohol. Adding alcohol to the mashed berries mixture isolates the DNA from the strawberry mixture, hence the reason why the white stringy DNA develops at the top of the mixture.

Why is cold isopropanol used in DNA extraction?

cold Isopropanol may increase precipitation of salt (white precipitate at the bottom of the tube). The use of chilled IPA increases the rate of precipitation of DNA and allows it to flocculate and settle very easily and quickly.

How does the strawberry DNA experiment work?

When you added the salt and detergent mixture to the smashed strawberries, the detergent helped lyse (pop open) the strawberry cells, releasing the DNA into solution, whereas the salt helped create an environment where the different DNA strands could gather and clump, making it easier for you to see them.

What does mashing do to the fruit in DNA extraction?

Mashing the banana exposes a greater surface area from which to extract the DNA. The liquid soap is added to help break down cell membranes to release the DNA.

How is DNA extracted from strawberries?

Put the strawberries into the plastic bag, seal it and gently smash it for about two minutes. Completely crush the strawberries. This starts to break open the cells and release the DNA.

Why is strawberry DNA stringy?

DNA does not dissolve very well in the cold, concentrated alcohol, so when the DNA molecules drift up from the strawberry juice into the alcohol, they can no longer stay dissolved. Lots of DNA molecules tangle and clump together – these are the white strands you can see in the alcohol layer.

Why is hot or cold water better for DNA extraction?

Why is cold water better than warm water for extracting DNA? Cold water helps keep the DNA intact during the extraction process. A cell’s DNA is usually protected from such enzymes (called DNases) by the nuclear membrane, but adding detergent destroys that membrane.

Why could we see the DNA from the strawberry today?

DNA is not soluble in alcohol; therefore, it makes the DNA strands clump together and become visible to the naked eye.

Why use strawberries for DNA extraction?

Why use strawberries? Strawberries are octoploid, meaning that their cells each have eight duplicate copies of each chromosome. This gives the cells a lot of DNA, which means it is easier to extract a large amount of DNA that is visible to the naked eye.

What is the function of enzymes in strawberries?

Strawberries contain enzymes called pectinases and cellulases that help to break down cell walls, this helps release that precious DNA. A strawberry is octoploid. That means they have eight copies of each type of DNA chromosome. Human cells are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes.

What are the benefits of strawberries?

Strawberries are easy to access in most places in the world. They are easy for kids to pulverize with their hands. Strawberries contain enzymes called pectinases and cellulases that help to break down cell walls, this helps release that precious DNA. A strawberry is octoploid. That means they have eight copies of each type of DNA chromosome.

How do you fish out DNA from strawberries?

Using your thin wooden stick, you can now fish out the DNA. It will be rather “stringy” since DNA molecules form long chains. These types of molecules are known as “polymers”. What’s going on? Why use strawberries? Strawberries are octoploid, meaning that their cells each have eight duplicate copies of each chromosome.