Sie sind auf Seite 1von 4

Introduction Extraction of DNA is a technique in molecular biology which involves the process of isolating the double helix strands

from other cellular components for the purpose of molecular analysis. Basically, there are three steps involved in the DNA extraction, firstly the sample undergo lyses of cells. Secondly, is the removal of protein cells and towards the end of the process the DNA strand will be isolated in a form of precipitate or commonly known to be in a form of fibrous threadlike that have clumped together in white colour. In this experiment, the sample that we used is strawberry. The reason of choosing strawberry over other fruits is because it can purify a lot of DNA. This is due to the nature of strawberry which has eight copies of the genome in every cell. An organism which has eight copies of genome is called an octoploid. An octoploid which has more DNA per cell can yield more DNA extract more than an organism which has only one copy of genome in a cell. Thus, it is easier for us, the novice in molecular biology field to know exactly how DNA of an organism looks like before advancing to the higher level of molecular biology.

Discussion In this experiment, we need to extract the DNA of strawberry and we learned that all living things and the food that we eat contain DNA. The first step of this experiment is to filter the strawberry slurry. The significance of filtering strawberry slurry is to get the extract which contains the cells and its cellular components including the DNA. The cell wall of Strawberry or its scientific name, Fragaria ananassa, undergoes initial smashing and grinding of strawberry to obtain the strawberry cells thus breaking the cell wall. During the lab, we mashed the strawberry with soapy solution so that the cells will break open to release the DNA strand. Then, we added 95% ethanol to the filtrate for the purpose of removing cellular component to obtain DNA precipitation. We observed that the DNA looks like a fibrous, white form which clumped together abundantly. In the tube, the DNA looks like a thread, clumped together and it is suspend at the upper layer and neither the layer in between nor the bottom layer. From what we learned, the chemical structure of DNA (a double helix structure) composed of nitrogenous bases (A, T, C and G), sugar ribose and phosphate backbone. The bond which holds complementary bases is hydrogen bond. The purine bases (A and G) are held together by double hydrogen bond while the pyrimidine bases (C, T and U) are held together by single hydrogen bond. We inferred that the DNA looks like a thread due to its chemical structure that forms double helix strand. In the final step, after incubating the tube which contained the 95% ethanol and extract layers for 5 minutes, we further invert the tube twice gently. From our observation, there is formation of two phases which come in contact at the middle of the tube. The bottom layer is the strawberry extract whereas the upper layer is the 95% ethanol. After some time, the cloudy solution at the upper layer changed to colourless. The alcohol stays on top of the tube because it is less dense than the extract. The cold alcohol makes the DNA in the extract becomes insoluble resulted to the formation of DNA precipitates. We inferred that, cold temperature makes solids and liquids less soluble in a solution. In addition to what happened in the final step was that, the adjoining between DNA and alcohol formed fibrous, white clumps that pull other DNA strands along behind it hence producing cloudy, stringy and pool-able DNA strand. In our point of view, the ability of removing DNA from an organism is very important to the geneticists. The most prominent importance of DNA extraction technique lies in genetic testing. Genetic testing, also known as DNA-based tests, is a test usually performed in medical field to distinguish changes that occur in chromosomes, genes or proteins. Genetic testing has given significant contribution to the medical field in helping the physician to cure major diseases like cancer and genetic disorder in patients these days. Besides, genetic testing can be utilized in identification of criminals through which there are no traces of evidence can be collected except only small piece of nail or hair.

Aside from that, the history or origin of plant species and also family bloodline can be identified by tracking them down through genetic testing. Thus, genetic testing will be to no avail if the DNA extraction technique not discovered. Thanks to the works of Freiderich Miescher (1844-1895) who discovered nuclein in 1869 and later isolated DNA from sperm of salmon, scientists nowadays are able to manipulate the technique to create something good for human race and ecosystem. Is there DNA in our food? Yes, there is DNA in our food and all living things. DNA is located in the nucleus of every living organism. Therefore, it is impossible to not eat DNA in a food that we eat. In order to make sure the presence of DNA, we can utilize the knowledge of DNA extraction that we have learned in the practical class.

References

DNAs chemical and composition structure. Available; http://library.thinkquest.org/27819/ch6_3.shtml. Retrieved on Oct 6th 2011

Adnan A., DNA Extraction: procedure and importance in forensics Available; http://www.biotecharticles.com/DNA-Article/DNA-Extraction-Procedure-and-Importance-inForensics-389.html. Retrieved on Oct 6th 2011

Strawberry: DNA Extraction. Available; http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/suminst/iii2008/strawberryextraction Retrieved on Oct 6th 2011 What Is Genetic Testing Available ; http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/testing/genetictesting Retrieved on Oct 6th 2011 History of Molecular Biology Available; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_molecular_biology Retrieved on Oct 6th 2011

Hey waiter! Theres DNA in my dinner! Available; http://agwest.sk.ca/publications/newtrition/new_win00.pdf Retrieved on Oct 6th 2011

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen