Time
: 10 minutes
What you'll need
:
1 strawberry, ¼-tsp salt, 2 tsp dish soap, 6 Tbsp water, isopropyl alcohol, plastic bag, cup, spoon, tweezers or a toothpick, strainer or a paper towel, bowl
Instructions
:
1.
Put a bottle of isopropyl alcohol in a freezer. We’ll come back to it later. Measure 6 Tbs of water into a small glass container.
2.
Add 2 tsp dish soap to the water.
3.
Stir in a ¼-tsp salt and mix until the salt dissolves. This is the
extraction mixture
.
4.
Place one strawberry into a plastic zipper-lock bag. (You may want to remove the green leaves first!)
5.
Pour the extraction mixture into the bag with the strawberry.
6.
Remove as much air from the bag as possible and seal it closed.
7.
Use your hands and fingers to mash, smash, and moosh the strawberry inside of the bag. You don’t want any large pieces remaining.
8.
Pour the resulting strawberry pulp and extraction mixture through a strainer and into a small glass bowl or similar container. (You can pour it through a paper towel if you don’t have a strainer!)
9.
Use a spoon to press the mashed bits of strawberry against the strainer forcing even more of the mixture into the container. If you’re using a paper towel, remember to press gently!
10.
Add 1 tsp of the chilled isopropyl alcohol to the solution and hold the mixture at eye level. You’re looking for a separation of material that shows up as a white layer on top.
That’s the DNA of the strawberry!
11.
Use the tweezers, a toothpick, or a cotton swab to gently remove the DNA from the solution and lay it on a dish to examine.
