Background:

Strawberries are used because they are octopoloids and have eight copies of their chromosomes.
In order to extract the DNA, the cell wall, cell membrane, and the nuclear membrane must first
be broken down, allowing for access to the nucleus where the DNA is. The detergent helps to
dissolve the membranes and it disrupts proteins, while the positive Na ions separate the proteins
from the DNA. The filter allows for only the smaller molecules to get through to the filtered
solution, and then alcohol is added to the solution, making the DNA precipitate out.

Materials:
1. strawberry with green top removed
2. resealable plastic bag
3. 10 mL of extraction buffer (soap)
4. funnel
5. 50 mL centrifuge tube
6. cheesecloth
7. 15 mL tube
8. pipette
9. cold 95% ethanol
10. wooden stick
11. Sodium Chloride

Procedure:
1. Obtain one fresh or one frozen and thawed strawberry. If you are using a fresh
strawberry, remove the green sepals (tops) from the berry.

2. Place the strawberry in a resealable plastic bag.

3. Close the bag slowly, pushing all of the air out of the bag as you seal it.

4. Being careful not to break the bag, thoroughly mash the strawberry with your hands for
two minutes.

5. Pour the 10-mL aliquot of extraction buffer into the bag with the mashed strawberry.
Reseal the bag.

6. Mash the strawberry for one additional minute.

 7. Place a funnel into a 50-mL centrifuge tube. Fold the cheesecloth in half along the longer
side and place it in the funnel to create a filter. The cheesecloth will overlap the edge of
the funnel.

8. Pour the strawberry mixture into the funnel, filtering the contents through the cheesecloth
and into the 50-mL centrifuge tube.

9. Carefully pour 2 mL of the filtered contents from the 50-mL tube into a clean 15-mL
tube. Use the lines on the side of the 15-mL tube to help measure the amount added.

10. Hold the 15-mL tube at an angle. Using a transfer pipette, carefully add 5 mL of cold
95% ethanol by running it down the inside of the tube. Add the 95% ethanol until the
total volume is 7 mL (use the lines on the side of the tube to help you measure). You
should have two distinct layers. Caution: Do not mix the strawberry extract and the
ethanol!

11. Watch closely as translucent strands of DNA begin to clump together where the ethanol
layer meets the strawberry extract layer. Tiny bubbles in the ethanol layer will appear
where the DNA precipitates.

12. Slowly and carefully rotate the wooden stick in the ethanol directly above the extract
layer to wind (or “spool”) the DNA. Remove the wooden stick from the tube and observe
the DNA .

Conclusion:

1. In your own words, describe the structure and function of DNA.

DNA is composed of a deoxyribose sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base. It is a

double helix, and the strands run anti-parallel, with one end running 5' and the other running 3'.
The other strand will run 3' to 5'. The DNA is within the nuclei of eukaryotic cells, and is
floating in the cytoplasm of prokaryotic cells. The function of DNA is to provide genetic
information for cells, and this information can be passed on through replication, and the
information can be used to ultimately synthesize proteins.

2. What does mashing the strawberries and treating them with detergent do to their cells?
Mashing the strawberry and treating them with detergent breaks the cell wall, the cell membrane,
and the nuclear membrane of the plant, allowing for DNA extraction.

3. Name a liquid that DNA is not soluble in. What does it meant to be insoluble?

DNA is not soluble in alcohol, such as ethanol or isopropyl alcohol. When a substance is
insoluble, it means that it cannot be dissolved in a particular solvent, such as water.

4. If you had extracted DNA from animal cells instead of plant cells, what cell barrier
would be different? What do plant and animal cells have that bacterial cells do not?

If the DNA were to be extracted from animal cells instead of plant cells, there would be no cell
wall but only the cell membrane. Plant and animal cells are eukaryotic, meaning that they have a
nucleus, while bacteria do not have a nucleus.

5. Do you think that DNA from animal cells would look the same as DNA from plant cells?

Whether from animal cells or from plant cells, DNA would look the same since the underlying
composition is still the same - deoxyribose sugar, phosphate group, and a nitrogenous base- and
it will still be a double helix.

6. Give one example of something a scientist can do with extracted DNA. (See Syllabus 4.4)

Extracted DNA is essential to projects like the Human Genome Project, as it allows for the study
of the exact base pair sequence of a particular organism. Learning about the human genome can
in turn recognize the uses and the significance of all kinds of genes, and then compare genomes
of humans with that of other species.

7. Describe the structure and function of nucleosomes.

A nucleosome consists of a central core of 8 histone proteins with DNA coiled around the
proteins. Nucleosomes help to supercoil DNA, and they also help regulate transcription in
eukaryotes.

8. Discuss at least 2 issues and or current events related to DNA.

In March, a study was undertaken by scientists where they put the information of an operating
system and other miscellaneous items, such as an Amazon gift card, into 72,000 strands of DNA
to test whether or not the information could be retrieved without data loss. They used sequencing
technology to retrieve data, and then used software to turn it into binary so computers can
process it. The information, which along with the operating system, even including a film, was
able to be retrieved with no errors. The reason for experimenting with DNA for data storage is
due to the compactness of DNA as well as the longevity- they last up to a 100 years, longer than
other forms of media. The scientist guesses that it would be at least more than a decade before
DNA storage is available to the general public.

Through DNA analysis of wooly mammoths, it has been shown that the last wooly mammoths
had extreme cases of genetic disorders, including a shiny coat. Their DNA was packed with
genetic errors and mutations, and due to severe reduction in population and the small pool with
which to breed, the mutations were repeatedly passed on, hindering survivability. This
information can be used to help the preservation of endangered species, such the Asiatic cheetah,
and prevent a "genetic meltdown" should population numbers get low enough.