DNA Extraction On Banana Experiment
DNA Extraction On Banana Experiment
Purpose: To perform and observe the process of DNA extraction with fruits.
Materials:
• Fruit (Banana)
• Blender
• Strainer
• Measuring Cups & Spoons
• Knife
• Test tubes/glass containers
• Stirring Rod/Wooden Stick
• Liquid Detergent
• Water (Warm)
• Salt
• 70% Ethyl/Isopropyl Alcohol (Cold)
• Meat Tenderizer (Alternative: Pineapple juice, Contact lens cleaning solution)
Procedure:
A. Blender Insanity
1. Slice one banana into thin slices and place the slices inside the blender.
2. Add in a pinch of salt into the blender for the saline solution. The salt in the saline
solution neutralizes the negative charges on the DNA and thus enables the DNA strands
to stick together and it becomes less soluble in water. It also helps to remove proteins
that are bound to the DNA strands.
3. Add about 1 cup of warm water (about 60°C) into the blender. As much as possible,
the amount of water should be twice the amount of space taken up by the banana slices.
The warm water is used to inactivate the DNase.
4. Close the lid of the blender tightly and blend the mixture on high for about 10-15
seconds.
B. Soapy Soup
5. Strain the soup with the use of the strainer into a container and ensure that you get most
of the soup and remove the larger particles present.
6. Add 2 tablespoons of liquid detergent into the soup and mix. Soaps/detergents contain
sodium laurel sulfate that removes fats and proteins, thus enable them to cut through
cell membranes and release the DNA because the membranes are made up of fats and
proteins.
7. Allow the soup mixture to sit for 5-10 minutes. This is to make sure that the proteins
and lipids that are in the cell membrane are captured and broken apart. This also
releases the DNA strands from the cell and allows us to see the DNA strands much
more clearly.
C. Enzyme Power
8. Pour the soup mixture into the test tube/container and fill about 1/3 of the tube/glass
container. If there is still leftover soup mixture, place it in another test tube/ glass
container.
9. Add a pinch of meat tenderizer into the mixture. If there is none available, make use of
pineapple juice or contact lens cleaning solution. This serves as the enzyme to be added
into the mixture which breaks down the proteins protecting the DNA strands.
D. Alcohol Separation
10. Tilt the test tube and pour cold ethyl/isopropyl alcohol into the mixture. Make sure that
you pour the alcohol down the side of the test tube/container and do it slowly. Pour
alcohol into the tube until the amount of alcohol is about the same as the amount of
soup in the tube and it creates a separate layer on top of the soup mixture. The cold
alcohol is used to precipitate the DNA as the strands are very sensitive to temperature.
11. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. As the soup stays at the bottom layer, the DNA
strands will suspend and move to the alcohol layer. Using the stirring rod/wooden stick,
slowly draw out the DNA strands from the soup and alcohol layer and remove it by
spinning the rod slowly for the DNA to attach and wrap around it. The DNA extraction
process is complete.
Possible Problems/Issues:
1. Possibility of overmixing/blending the soup too much which may end up destroying the
DNA strands and making it difficult for me to see and extract them.
2. Failure to properly strain the mixture and remove unnecessary elements (lipids, protein,
etc.) completely which would make it more difficult to perform the extraction.
3. Failure to extract or the DNA strands from the soup mixture and alcohol properly (unable
to gather and extract much DNA strands from the tube; alcohol used is not cold in
temperature).