Let’s go Bananas and extract it’s DNA

The first-ever fruit to win the title of the superfruit is our very own fibre-rich, low fructose Banana. As a child we were always confused about spelling it, sometimes we wrote Bananana or Banananana. Well, yes the repetitive letters can be correlated to its highly repetitive DNA sequences which is why we have chosen Banana for our DNA extraction experiment. Let’s dig deeper into the experiment on DNA extraction of Banana.

Table of Contents

MATERIAL REQUIRED

Banana (star of the show)
Saltwater
Dishwashing soap
Alcohol
Glass jar
Transparent resealable pouch
A scientific fun mindset and full enthusiasm

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PROCEDURE for DNA extraction of Banana

Mash the banana in a reusable bag for a minute until all the lumps have gone.
Fill a jar with hot water and salt to prepare the salt solution.
Pour the warm saltwater mix into the transparent pouch. Close the bag and mash, mash, mash for 30-45 seconds.
Add the dishwashing soap into the bag and mix the contents gently.
TIP ALERT- Try to avoid making too much foam.
Place the filter in a clear glass jar, securing the top of the filter around the lip of the jar.
Pour the mix into the filter and let it sit until all of the liquid drops down the jar.
Remove discard the used filter.
Tilt the glass and slowly add cold alcohol down the side of the jar.
TIP ALERT- Don’t pour too fast.
Make a layer of alcohol that is 2.5-5cm thick.
After the alcohol layer is set up, wait for 8 minutes.
Some bubbly and cloudy material starts moving around in the alcohol. There you go! That is the DNA pieces clumping together.
Spool the DNA with the help of a glass stirrer.

Watch the steps of DNA extraction

Result and Discussion for DNA extraction of Banana

Good quality DNA extraction is key for all biological experiments especially in the case of biotechnology experiments. A large number of DNA threads were precipitated in the DNA extraction of Banana experiment.

Viva Questions

Q1. What does DNA stand for?

DNA-Deoxyribonucleic acid.

Q2. What is the role of salt solution in the experiment of DNA extraction?

The salt solution allowed the DNA strands to stick to each other in large clumps that are visible.

Q3. What is the role of dishwashing solution in the DNA extraction?

The dishwashing solution is important for the ideal lysis procedure. The DNA extraction of Banana is not possible without dissolving the lipid membranes.

Q4. What are the benefits of DNA extraction?

DNA extraction is highly useful to make recombinant DNA molecules used in genetic engineering. In the case of Banana, it can be used to create genetically modified species of Banana that can be disease-free and more fibre rich.

Q5. How thick should be the alcohol layer?

The alcohol layer should be 2.5-5 cm thick.

Biology is full of such adventurous experiments and astonishing results.

Keep reading at MBD and keep up the scientific binoculars.

Team MBD

DNA? Read here- Did you know our DNA is 99.9% same? – My Biology Dictionary