Purpose: The purpose of this lab was to extract the D.N.A (Deoxyribonucleic
acid) from strawberries by making very rare goo with lots of chemicals.
Procedure:
1. Place the strawberries in a zip lock bag and tightly close the bag.
2. Gently squish the strawberries for several minutes.
3. Add 15ml dish soap to the bag with the strawberry goo.
4. Add 100ml of warm water and a pinch of salt to the soapy strawberry goo.
5. Gently squish the solution for 1 or 2 minutes.
6. Line a plastic funnel with a paper towel and the strawberry solution into the
50ml test tube until it is ½ full.
7. Slowly pour 20 ml of ice-cold alcohol into the test tube.
8. Let the solution sit for several minutes.
9. You will see the D.N.A float to the top of the solution.
10.
Finally you may collect the D.N.A with a paper clip.
Data Results: After mixing everything we could conclude that by a chemical
process used with strawberries, we could see its D.N.A. D.N.A is a molecule
encoding the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all
known living organisms and many viruses.
Questions:
1. Where can D.N.A can be found in the cell?
2. One small cell can hold up to 2 meters of D.N.A how is possible for it to fit
inside?
3. What do you think the purpose of the soap and the alcohol was in this activity?
4. Describe what chromosomes made of and how they are organized?
5. How can extracting D.N.A from organisms help scientists learn more about
them?
Answers:
1. DNA is found in all living cells. However, its exact location inside a cell depends
on whether that cell possesses a nucleus. Organisms composed of cells that
contain nuclei are eukaryotes, where as organisms made of cells that lack nuclei
are classified as prokaryotes. In eukaryotes, D.N.A is located inside the
nucleus, but in prokaryotes, DNA is located directly inside the cellular
cytoplasm, as there is no nucleus.
2. D.N.A lies in the process known as DNA packaging that is fitting D.N.A into
dense compact forms. During DNA packaging, long pieces of are tightly looped,
and folded so that they fit inside the cell. Eukaryotes cells feat D.N.A by
wrapping their it around special proteins. Together, eukaryotic DNA and the
proteins that hold it together in a coiled form are called a chromatin.
3. In my opinion the purpose of using alcohol and soap in this procedure is to
extract the chemicals or bases inside the strawberry and that they could go up
to the surface because soap makes strawberry juice heavier than alcohol so
when you mix the strawberry juice goes down and its D.N.A stays up with the
alcohol.
4. Chromosomes are made of a single strand of DNA. There are also some
proteins called histones, that are bound to this DNA in order to manage it and
keep it coiled, these are also sometimes make part of the chromosome.
5. D.N.A extraction can help scientists learn more about the organism because
D.N.A poses the genetic material of that organism and hoe this organism is
made up so by analyzing it they can discover how or of what is he made of.
Conclution :