On Wednesday, we did a simple lab to extract DNA. We extracted DNA from a human and from a plant. Before we did anything, we took a few observations.
(If you look closely at the HUMAN DNA, there is DNA, it's just small)
The procedure to extract the human DNA (which I did) was to swish the Gatorade in my mouth for one minute. After that, spit it into the cup. Next, put it into the test tube. Following that, put alcohol into the test tube. Finally, let the test tube rest at an angle for fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes later you will see white pieces floating around. This is the DNA. As the time goes by, you can see it getting slightly bigger. My partner, had to extract DNA from a strawberry. Once she was done with her procedure, we looked at each others DNA and compared them to one another.
In the end, I thought this was a cool lab. I learned a lot from it. I learned how various types of DNA look. I also learned that DNA is a lot like a puzzle piece. I think the only thing I did wrong was the fact that I didn't put the alcohol into the tube gently starting at the side. I just, well, put it in! If I did that, I wonder what would've been different if there was any difference! I enjoyed this lab very much and hope to do something this fun again soon.
