What is DNA?
All living things have DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid. Its natural shape is called a “double helix,” and if you look at it through a very powerful microscope, it looks like a ladder that has been twisted into a spiral.
The same fundamental component, DNA, is used by all living things, including people and bananas, to transmit information from one generation to the next. Most cells in every living organism contain a complete set of DNA instructions. DNA contains instructions for how our bodies should grow, function, and develop. Furthermore, it regulates many of the characteristics that set each individual apart.
Genes are DNA segments that contain these instructions. Information about how our bodies form and work is stored in our genes and the other parts of our DNA that regulate gene expression. Proteins, the molecules they produce, are what actually do most of the work in the body. Hair colour, eye colour, and earlobe shape are all influenced by variants of genes known as alleles.
All of these instructions fit in tiny packages inside our tiny cells, so it’s impossible for anyone to see or touch them, right? Well, not all of it. DNA is in every cell in an organism, so there is a lot of it.
The process of DNA extraction from a banana is not as challenging as it sounds. The following are the steps that are involved in the process:
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the genetic material found in cells that contains the blueprints for making the cell and giving it the ability to carry out its functions.
Extraction: Obtaining a substance through chemical or mechanical action.
Filtrate: The residue left behind when a solution or mixture passes through a filter
Precipitate: Solid matter that separates from a solution as a result of a chemical or physical change
You will require the following items:
- 3/4 cups of distilled water and 1 large banana
- 1 teaspoon EDTA-containing shampoo or liquid soap that is clear, colourless, and not cloudy.
- One-fourth teaspoon table salt
- A smoothie maker or blender
- 2 spoons in plastic
- A 250-ml beaker
- 3 plastic 16-ounce cups
- One skinny glass rod
- Put 15 ml of 91% isopropyl (rubbing alcohol) in a sealed test tube that is 25 ml or 50 ml in size. Chill the alcohol by putting the test tube in a beaker with some ice cubes and water.
- tape (optional)
- A measuring cup with markings for 1/2 a cup and 1 set of measuring spoons.
- One cone-shaped paper coffee filter
- 1 plastic dropper or pipette for medication
Procedure:
- In a blender, combine 1/2 cup distilled water and one banana. Blend for 25 seconds, stopping halfway to ensure the banana is completely pulverised. Fill a beaker halfway with the mixture.
- In a plastic cup, combine 1 teaspoon of soap and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Mix in 2 tablespoons of distilled water.
- To avoid foaming, stir gently. Continue for a few minutes, or until the soap and salt have completely dissolved.
- Pour in 2 tablespoons of the banana mixture into the cup with the soap solution. Stir the mixture with a spoon for at least 10 minutes.
- Place a filter in a clean plastic cup, making sure it does not touch the bottom. Tape the filter’s sides to the cup if necessary.
- Pour the step 3 mixture into the filter. After 10 minutes, some liquid, known as the filtrate, should have collected in the cup’s bottom. Allow the mixture in the filter to sit for another minute after gently stirring it.
- Remove and set aside the filter.
- Get a cold alcohol test tube. Collect your filtrate with a pipette or eyedropper. Combine it with the alcohol.
- In a beaker or test tube holder, place the test tube containing the alcohol and filtrate. Allow it to sit for about four minutes, undisturbed. Don’t move. DNA is the white material that precipitates out of solution.
- Insert the glass rod into the tube and slowly rotate it to extract the banana’s DNA.
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