Name: John Michael S.

Asis Date: February 20 2022

Grade and Section: STEM 1B – Margaret Castello O.P

Activity Worksheet No. 1

Experiment No 1: DNA Extraction from Fruits

Background Information
All living things are made of
cells, and each cell contains a
molecule called DNA. DNA
carries the genetic
information that determines
gender, physical appearance,
vulnerability
toward disease, and many other
parts of who we are. Every cell
in our body contains DNA.
Even
though cells can only be seen
under a microscope, an uncoiled
piece of DNA can be 2.8 inches
(7.2 centimeters) long!
Getting at the DNA: Plant and
animal cells store their DNA
in the nucleus, a small
compartment inside each
cell that is
surrounded and protected by the
nuclear membrane. A
membrane
is a flexible, thin film that only
water and a few special
chemicals
can pass through. The cell
membrane surrounds and
protects the
entire cell. Adding detergent or
soap breaks the nuclear and cell
membranes, releasing the DNA.
Plant cells, but not animal cells,
also have a rigid cell wall
around the outside of the
cell. The
students must smash the fruit in
a bag to break the cell walls and
expose the membranes inside to
the soap or detergent. Once the
DNA has been released,
the meat tenderizer (or
pineapple or
papaya juice) helps untangle
and unfold the DNA from the
other
parts of the cell.
Background Information

Getting at the DNA: Plant and animal cells store their DNA in the nucleus, a small compartment
in each cell surrounded and protected by the nuclear membrane. A membrane is a flexible, thin film that
only water and a few special chemicals can pass through. The cell membrane surrounds and protects the
entire cell. Adding detergent or soap breaks the nuclear and cell membranes, releasing the DNA. Plant
cells, but not animal cells, also have a rigid cell wall around the outside of the cell.

The students must smash the fruit in a bag to break the cell walls and expose the membranes
inside to the soap or detergent. Once the DNA has been released, the meat tenderizer (or pineapple or
papaya juice) helps untangle and unfold the DNA from the other parts of the cell.

Materials

o 1pc of any fleshy fruit (e.g. strawberry, banana, apple)

o Coffee filter, cheesecloth, or any filter paper
o Ziplock bag or plastic bag
o Test tubes, beakers, or clear cups or glasses to collect filtrate
o 70% or higher Isopropyl or any rubbing alcohol (put the alcohol in an ice bath or put it in
a chiller a few minutes before you start your experiment.)
o Bucket of ice
o Water
o Toothpick, chopstick, or paperclip
o DNA extraction buffers:
 Salt, meat tenderizer, pineapple juice, or papaya juice (choose only one)
 Liquid Soap or liquid detergent

Procedure:
 Preparation of buffers
Either—Meat tenderizer with a salt mixture
- Mix 1 tablespoon salt with 1 tablespoon powdered meat tenderizer in a plastic cup.
Or— papaya or pineapple juice
- Use fresh or canned juice.
- Make sure juice contains raw, uncooked fruit juice.
 Soap solution
- Dilute liquid dish soap with water: one-part soap or detergent to two parts water.
 Gently mix the solution without making any bubbles.
- If possible, leave the soap mixture in a refrigerated place until immediately before
use.
NOTE: BEFORE THE DNA EXTRACTION MAKE SURE TO PREPARE THE BUFFER AND SOAP SOLUTION.

II. DNA extraction

1. Chop up the fruit, and place its fruit on a plate. Use the knife to chop it up.

2. Add about ½ cup of fruit to the bag, remove the air, seal, and then start squishing it up. Close
the bag and gently squash the banana until smooth. Once it’s turned into a paste, set the bag
aside.

3. Add the prepared DNA extraction buffers into the bag and mix together with the mashed
fruit for about a minute. Don’t add too much liquid, add enough so that you have a nice
mixture that you cannot see through.
4. If you have time, let the mixture sit for 10-20 minutes to give the buffer time to release
A lot of DNA.

5. Place a coffee filter on top of a glass and carefully pour your fruit mixture into the filter.

6. You can gently squeeze the filter to get more liquid out, just don’t break it! The filtrate
will be the solution that contains the DNA.
 7. Very carefully pour the chilled 70% alcohol (the higher the concentration of alcohol the
better), down the side of the glass (see figure below). You are trying to create a layer of
alcohol that floats on top of the water solution. DNA will come out of the solution at the
boundary layer between the water and alcohol

 You should see some white string almost cotton-like strands begin to appear in the glass.
 That is the DNA! Let the solution sit for a few minutes and you should see more DNA
come out of the solution. You can collect the DNA using a toothpick, chopstick, or paperclip.
 If you want to save the DNA, you can store it in a small container filled with rubbing alcohol.

NOTE: ATTACHED THIS TO THE ACCOMPLISHED ACTIVITY WORKSHEET WITH THE GUIDE QUESTIONS.

Result:
GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. What did the DNA look like?

Answer: The DNA looks snot or mucus. The appearance and the texture is gooey.

2. Do you think you used one more important ingredient than the others? Why?
Answer: For me the most important ingredients that I used in this activity is the fruit such as the
tomato. Without this ingredient we cannot do this activity such as the extracting the DNA of a
fruit.

3. What is the purpose of smashing/squashing the fruit?

Answer: Mashing the tomatoes exposes a greater surface area from which to extract the DNA

4. Why do you have to add the buffer and the soap solution?
Answer: The cell membrane and organelles' phospholipid bilayers will be easier to dissolve using
soap solution, and the protein chains that bind to the nucleic acids will be broken with a salt-
based extraction buffer. With the use of this extraction buffer, we will be able to access the DNA
within the cells. DNA is not made soluble by alcohol.

5. What is the use of adding alcohol?

Answer: The use of the cold alcohol is to make the DNA rise and show at the top of the mixture.
It is like the activator in extracting the DNA.

CONCLUSION: How and what is your conclusion about your experiment?

Answer: I therefore conclude that by doing this activity I found out that not only humans have
DNA, fruits also have it. This activity is such a easy peasy because the materials that you will be
needed is in our house. All the ingredients that I have used has its own work to complete the
extracting the dna of my chosen fruit also, by following the instructions carefully we can totally
extract a dna from a fruit. And I do believe that if the ingredients and the materials are not complete
we wouldn’t be able to extract the dna of a fruit.
*Reminder: Make sure to take photos of every step for documentation purposes

CRITERIA DESCRIPTION PERCENTAGE

Completely follow the step-by-step process of the
Documentation extraction of the DNA of a fruit. Evidence using pictures of
the steps and product. Extracted the DNA properly with 40%
evidence.
Post-Lab Questions All questions are answered completely with an in-depth
understanding of the subject matter. 20%
The conclusion is written in a concise manner. It shows an
Conclusion in-depth understanding of the subject matter as well as its
applications of it in real life. 20%
The overall The activity worksheet was accomplished as instructed.
accomplishment of Followed the proper use of font and spacing. All 10%
the instructions were correctly conducted and done.
activity/experiment
Submission On-time submission of activity worksheet 10%
TOTAL 100%