Dean Madden

National Centre for Biotechnology Education, University of Reading

2 Earley Gate, Reading RG6 6AU | D.R.Madden@reading.ac.uk

DNA your onions?

A crude method of extracting DNA from onions

Aim
This popular method of isolating DNA requires little more than onions,
household detergent and salty water. Onions are the best material to
use because their cells contain a relatively large amount of DNA (1C =
415 Mb). They are cheap and available throughout the year, and unlike
some plant materials, are highly unlikely to cause allergic reactions.

Classroom methods
The isolation of DNA has become a popular activity in school
laboratories over the past 30 years. Although similar practical protocols
had been described previously (e.g., Sands, 1970), these were not adopted
widely owing to the complexity of the procedures involved and the
hazardous nature of several of the solvents required (Falconer and
Hayes, 1986).
These early methods for isolating DNA were derived from the work
of Julius Marmur (Marmur, 1961), which in turn were developed from
the classic work of Oswald Avery, Maclyn McCarty and Colin MacLeod
(who first showed that DNA was the genetic material in the 1940s).
Simpler methods of isolating DNA first appeared in American school
textbooks in the mid-1980s (e.g., Helms, et al, 1986) and subsequently
made their way into specialist school biotechnology projects (e.g.,
Rasmussen and Matheson, 1990). By the early 1990s these methods had
crossed the Atlantic, featuring in German and English publications
(Bayrhuber, et al, 1990; NCBE, 1991).
With the arrival of simple and inexpensive methods, what was an
undergraduate or post-16 practical exercise moved down the age range
and even into the primary classroom (Assinder, 1998).

Three easy steps

All of the methods of isolating DNA have three similar steps:

• the cells are lysed;

• histones associated with the DNA are denatured;
• the DNA is precipitated in an organic solvent, such as ethanol.

In the method described below, a kitchen blender is used to break open

the cell walls. Detergent breaks down the phospholipid membranes

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surrounding the nuclei, releasing the DNA. The detergent, combined

with heating, degrades the histones associated with the DNA by
destroying their secondary and tertiary structures. This allows a
protease to hydrolyse the histones to peptides and amino acids.
In research, Proteinase K (a protease obtained from the fungus
Engyodontium album) is often used to hydrolyse proteins. It is active over
a wide pH range even in the presence of the detergent SDS (sodium
dodecyl sulphate). In the method described here, a cheaper protease
obtained from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens is used instead.
After the histones have been degraded, the DNA is precipitated in
ice-cold ethanol. When it is dissolved in water, the negatively-charged
phosphate groups of the DNA are surrounded by a coating of water
molecules. Ethanol, added to an aqueous DNA solution, disrupts the
electrostatic interactions between the water and the DNA molecules,
causing the DNA to precipitate out of solution. Sodium ions (from
the salt used in the extraction solution) also disrupt the DNA–water
interactions, enhancing the precipitation of the DNA.
For research use, the DNA might be further purified by treatment
with phenol and trichloromethane (chloroform) either separately
or together. Phenol and to some extent trichloromethane further
denature the proteins, and the products of denaturation are soluble
in phenol. Sometimes isoamyl alcohol is added to the solvent mixture,
which reduces the tendancy of the denatured proteins to foam.

Other sources of DNA

In the search for sweeter-smelling alternatives to onions, several
authors (e.g., Smith and Ansell, 2008) have suggested applying the
‘onion method’ to a variety of fruits, including kiwi fruit, bananas and
strawberries. Although these fruits seem to yield copious amounts of
DNA, the substance produced is in fact little more than pectin.

Advance preparation
The ethanol used must be ice cold. Place it in a tightly-sealed plastic
bottle in a freezer at least 24 hours before you attempt this activity.
Please read the safety note, below.
If desired, the onion can be chopped up to 12 or so hours in advance.

Equipment and materials

Needed by each person or group

Equipment
• 1 cm3 plastic syringe (without a needle)
• Plastic funnel
• 250 cm3 beakers, 2
• Test tubes, 2
• Plastic spoon for stirring the mixture
• Chopping board
• Knife for chopping onion

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NCBE, University of Reading DNA your onions?

Materials
• Small onion
• Washing-up liquid, 10 cm3
• Table salt, 3 g
• Water, 90 cm3 (tap water is suitable)
• Very cold ethanol, about 10 cm3, straight from the freezer (industrial
denatured alcohol, IDA, is suitable) Please read the safety note,
below.
• Novozymes Neutrase® (a protease), 2–3 drops
• Ice, in a jug with cold water
• Coffee filter paper (do not use laboratory filter paper, as liquid takes
too long to pass through it)

Also required (to be shared by the class)

• Water bath, maintained at 60 °C
• Blender or liquidiser

Timing
Isolating the DNA takes approximately 35 minutes, including an
incubation period of 15 minutes.

Procedure
1 Dissolve the salt in 90 cm3 of water. Add the washing-up liquid
and mix gently.
2 Chop the onion into pieces about 5 mm x 5 mm and add them to
a beaker with the salty washing-up liquid solution.
3 Stand the beaker in a water bath at 60 °C for exactly 15 minutes.
The detergent and heat treatment degrades membrane phospholipids and
proteins, releasing the DNA. In addition, the positively-charged sodium
ions from the salt shield the negatively-charged phosphate groups of the
DNA molecules, helping them to precipitate out of solution. At 60 °C, DNase
enzymes, which would otherwise start to cut the DNA into fragments, are
also denatured.

Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3


 



 
 

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NCBE, University of Reading DNA your onions?

4 Cool the mixture by placing the beaker in an ice water bath for
5 minutes, stirring frequently. This slows the breakdown of the DNA
which would occur if a high temperature was maintained.
5 Pour the mixture into a liquidizer and blend for only 5 seconds
on high speed. This degrades the cell walls and membranes further,
permitting the release of DNA. Do not blend for too long as this will break
up the DNA fibres.
6 Filter the mixture into a second beaker. Ensure that any foam
on top of the liquid does not contaminate the filtrate. The filtrate
contains proteins and DNA.

Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6

7 Add 2–3 drops of protease to about 10 cm3 of the onion extract

in a boiling tube and mix well. The protease will partly degrade the
proteins in the preparation.
8 Very carefully pour ice cold ethanol or IDA down the side of the
boiling tube, to form a layer on top of the onion extract.
9 Leave the tube, undisturbed, for a few minutes. Nucleic acids
(DNA and RNA) are insoluble in cold ethanol and will precipitate
into the upper (ethanol) layer. The DNA is the white material in
the clear alcohol layer.

Fig. 7 Fig. 8 Fig. 9

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NCBE, University of Reading DNA your onions?

Further investigations
A hook for recovering the DNA can be made by briefly heating the tip
of a Pasteur pipette in a Bunsen burner flame, then bending the tip
round before allowing the glass to cool. To electrophorese the DNA,
dissolve some of it in about 0.5 cm3 of bromophenol blue loading dye,
then load about 20 µL into a well in a 1 % agarose gel. Staining with
0.04 % (w/v) aqueous Toluidine blue O solution after electrophoresis will
reveal a smear of DNA fragments.

Variations of this extraction procedure can be used for other food

items, e.g., fish sperm (milt or soft roe) or fish eggs (Strömberg, 2001).
Several publications refer to the use of calf thymus tissue, but its use
in schools is no longer recommended (see Safety note, below).

Safety

Ethanol in freezers
Most freezers are not spark-proof. Consequently, you must ensure that
any ethanol placed in a freezer is in a sealed, vapour-tight container.
An alternative to using a freezer is to stand the sealed bottle of ethanol
in ice for several hours before use. For more information about safety
in schools when working with DNA, teachers in the UK should consult
Topics in Safety (ASE, 2014).

Use of animal tissue

Since the advent of BSE and vCJD in the United Kingdom, school safety
authorities there advise that calf thymus should no longer be used in
schools, as there is a risk (albeit small) of accidental exposure to the
infectious agent while the extract is being prepared.

Suppliers
Most of the items required for this procedure can be obtained from
a supermarket.
Novozymes Neutrase® can be bought in small volumes from the
National Centre for Biotechnology Education.

References
Marmur, J. (1961) A procedure for the isolation of deoxyribonucleic
acid from micro-organisms. Journal of Molecular Biology 3, 208–218.
Sands, M. K. [Ed] (1970) Nuffield Advanced Science Laboratory Guide. London;
Longman.
Falconer, A. C. and Hayes, L. J. (1986) The extraction and partial
purification of bacterial DNA as a practical exercise for GCE
Advanced level students. Journal of Biological Education 20 (1) 25–26.
Helms, D. et al (1986) Biology in the laboratory. New York; W. H. Freeman
and Company.

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NCBE, University of Reading DNA your onions?

Rasmussen, A. M. and Matheson R. H. (1990) A sourcebook of biotechnology

activities. North Carolina; National Association of Biology Teachers.
Bayrhuber, H., Gliesche, Ch. and Lucius, E. R. (1990) DNA-Isolierung
mit einfachen Mitteln (Isolation of DNA using simple methods).
Unterricht Biologie 14 (151) 44.
NCBE (1991) DNA your onions? NCBE Newsletter, Spring 1991.
Assinder, S. (1998) Discovering DNA. ‘T he recipe of life’ Swindon;
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Strömberg, E. (2001) DNA from caviar. Bioscience Explained 1 (1) www.
bioscience-explained.org
Smith, C. and Ansell, D. (2008) Crisp packet fireworks: Maverick science
to try at home. New Holland Publishers Ltd. ISBN: 978 1845379810.
Madden, D. (2014) ‘Working with DNA’. In: Topics in Safety (Fourth
Edition) Hatfield; Association for Science Education. This chapter is
available from the ASE, CLEAPSS and NCBE web sites.

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