Strawberry Extraction Lab free essay sample

The extraction solution which includes soap and salt is used to disrupt the cell’s plasma membrane and nuclear envelope, to make the DNA clump together. The salt breaks up the protein chains that bind the nucleic acids. DNA does not dissolve in ethanol, and the colder the ethanol is, the less DNA that will be broken down allowing us to view the DNA in the test tube. III. Hypothesis: If you add certain chemicals to the smashed up strawberry the sticky DNA can be retrieved from within the cells because of ethanol put into the mixture. IV. Experiment: A. Variables: i. Independent- strawberry ii. Dependent- The DNA iii. Controlled- Extraction solution and ice cold ethanol B. Materials: * Strawberries * Test tubes and test tube rack * Extraction solution * Ice cold ethanol * Filter paper * Ziploc baggies * Beakers * Eye dropper C. Procedure: 1) Smash strawberries in a Ziploc bag until turned into paste 2) Add 10mL of extraction solution 3) Massage solution and strawberry mix for an additional amount of time (remembering to get as few bubbles as possible from massaging) 4) Filter though filter paper and dampen thoroughly ) Pour 2-3 mL of mixture into test tube with eye dropper 6) Layer twice this volume with ice cold ethanol 7) Now wait a couple of minutes and you will be able to see thread like material separating from the strawberry mixture into the ethanol. We will write a custom essay sample on Strawberry Extraction Lab or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 8) Now too see the DNA close get a paper clip and bend until it looks like a hook and fish out the DNA. 9) You have just found the DNA of a strawberry. V. Results/Analysis: VI. Results/Analysis Questions: 1) How is the appearance of your DNA similar to what you have learned about DNA structure? Answer: 1. The DNA looked like spider webs. The DNA that I learned looked like long stair cases. This makes sense since the molecular structure is so long and narrow. 2) A person cannot see a single strand of cotton thread from 30 meter away. But if thousands of threads are wound together into a rope, the rope can be seen at some distance. How is this statement an analogy to the DNA extraction you did? Answer: The only way you can see DNA is with a microscope but this experiment proves wrong some fruits are available to see with the human eye. 3) DNA dissolves in water but not in ethanol. Explain what happened when the ethanol came in contact with the strawberry extract during the DNA extraction. Answer: It separated and you can see the difference between the ethanol and the strawberry mixture. 4) Compare the amount of DNA you extracted with the amounts other groups in your class were able to extract. What may be the reasons for the differences in the amounts? Answer: Some of the other groups had more DNA or less, but the reason was that some groups got either a big strawberry or they got two regular sized strawberries. VII. Conclusion: In this experiment I investigated how to can extract DNA from a strawberry. I saw that adding an extraction solution and ethanol contributed to seeing the DNA looking like a thread like material. My major findings were that this was an easy job to do and was interesting to see how the strawberry mixture stayed at the bottom at the test tube, but when the ice cold ethanol layered on top the mixture started showing the DNA. When all the groups finished we looked at each other’s labs. Our group saw that some labs had fewer or more DNA extracted from their strawberry. I learned that to have more DNA extracted you have to be careful not to massage the mixture too much when you pour in the extraction solution, if you massage the mixture too much you get bubbles which cause the mixture to stop dripping when filtered. Overall this lab was fun and interesting and wouldn’t mind trying it again and fixing my flaws.