11c Developing an Optimal Extraction of Spoolable DNA From Plant Cells

Materials
● Frozen strawberries
● Balance
● Liquid Dishwashing detergent
● Isopropyl alcohol
● Salt
● Strainer
● Chopsticks
● Plastic Bag

Procedure

1. Freeze isopropyl alcohol and chill any other items you may be using
2. Measure out 6T (90 ml) of water into a small glass container
3. Add 2tsp (10ml) dish soap to the water
4. Stir in a ¼-tsp salt and mix until it dissolves
5. Place your strawberry into a ziplock bag
6. Add in your extraction mixture
7. Remove as much air from the bag and zip up the bag
8. Use your hands and fingers to mash, smash, and moosh your strawberry inside your
bag. Try your best to leave no large pieces
9. Strain your mixture into another small container.
10. Use a spoon to press the rest of the strawberry through the strainer forcing even more
mixture in the container.
11. From the container it’s in now, pour the extraction mixture into a smaller container. This
will help in isolating the DNA on the surface of the mixture.
12. Add 1 tsp of the chilled isopropyl alcohol to the solution and hold the mixture at eye
level.
13. Use the chopstick to gently remove the Dna from the solution and lay it in a dish to
examine.

Conclusion:
Emily- After swabbing my bowl for strawberry DNA I determined that I had not made any. It is
important to note that I tried twice once with less isopropyl alcohol and I did not keep it as cold.
With my second attempt I use more precise measurements, more alcohol, and I put my finished
product in the freezer for about 5 minutes. With both attempts my experiment was unsuccessful.

Bella- The first attempt to extract the DNA from the strawberry was a fail. I followed the
procedure but it seemed too soapy and I couldn’t find the DNA so I added more cold isopropyl
alcohol. I made sure to keep everything cold before the experiment. I left both the strawberries
and isopropyl alcohol in the fridge. When doing the experiment I didn’t think the alcohol was
cold enough so I put it in the freezer along with a metal chopstick to extract the DNA. Since it
failed the first time, I did a second attempt to extract the DNA this time I double checked the
measurements and kept everything cold until it was needed. This time it wasn’t as soapy but I
still couldn’t get any DNA so I added more isopropyl alcohol. I still could not find any DNA. I tried
the experiment one last time with a frozen strawberry that I had soaked in warm water overnight.
I followed the procedure and it still didn’t work. In conclusion I found that this procedure did not
work after many trial and errors.

Pictures from lab

Making the mixture

Adding the mixture and strawberry into a plastic bag

Smashing them together

Straining the new mixture

Finished product
Pictures of the lab:
Mixing the ingredients together- Trial 1

Extracting the DNA- trial 1

Extracting the DNA- Trial 2