Name: ___________________________________ Grade and Section: _______________

LABORATORY ACTIVITY 1
Extracting DNA

Objective: At the end of this activity, I am expected to extract DNA from a plant cell.

Introduction
Like a recipe book, all the biological instructions for making an organism are in a long DNA
molecule (deoxyribonucleic acid). All living things, from humans and mice to plants and bacteria, have
unique instructions in the four chemical letters of DNA: A, C, G, and T. Although it’s not visible to the
naked eye, DNA has a unique shape. It is a double helix that looks a bit like a twisted ladder.
DNA is found inside the cells of all living things. Most DNA is inside the nucleus – the cell's
information center in animals, plants, and fungi. As it is such a long molecule (the DNA in one human
cell is 2 meters long!), it is packaged into bundles, known as chromosomes. This makes sure it all fits
inside the nucleus.
This activity will enable you to extract DNA from fruit using essential household ingredients.
With the use of essentially the same chemicals and processes that are used when DNA is removed in the
lab!

Materials
§ Fruit such as strawberries, kiwi, bananas, § Beakers (Large and Small)
blueberries, mango, apple, peas, etc. § Sealable plastic bag (1 L capacity)
§ Table salt (5 g or about one heaped § Small cups
teaspoon) § Sieve or cheese cloth
§ Dishwashing liquid/ shampoo (5 ml) § Spoon
§ Water § Paper towels
§ Vodka or Alcohol (freeze overnight; 10 ml)

Set up
1. Set up a table and prepare the materials.
2. Do the activity.
a. Preparation process (1-3)

b. Lysis stage (4-6)

c. Precipitation stage (7-9)

1
Processing Questions

1. To extract DNA from cells, what must you isolate it from in the case of a plant?
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2. What steps did we use to extract the DNA?

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3. What is DNA used for when it is extracted?

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