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DNA Extraction From Banana

DNA can be extracted from banana through a simple process. Soap is used to break open the banana cell membranes and release the DNA. Salt helps the DNA strands come together, and alcohol is then used to precipitate out the extracted DNA. Fresh, ripe banana is best for extraction as it yields the highest amount of DNA due to being at its peak of maturation. The extracted DNA will appear as white, stringy strands that clump together.

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Jylla Angway
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1K views2 pages

DNA Extraction From Banana

DNA can be extracted from banana through a simple process. Soap is used to break open the banana cell membranes and release the DNA. Salt helps the DNA strands come together, and alcohol is then used to precipitate out the extracted DNA. Fresh, ripe banana is best for extraction as it yields the highest amount of DNA due to being at its peak of maturation. The extracted DNA will appear as white, stringy strands that clump together.

Uploaded by

Jylla Angway
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DNA Extraction from Banana

Theoretical Background

Deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA, is the molecule that carries the genetic code of in all organisms. It is
composed of two strands forming a double helix and each strand has a backbone made up of alternating
deoxyribose and phosphate groups. Plants and animals differ in many ways however looking at the
chemical level, the cells of all plants and all animals contain the same double helix DNA and four chemical
building blocks called nucleotides. It is how these four nucleotides are arranged that gives rise to the
difference between plants and animals.

DNA isolation is one of the most basic and essential techniques in the study of DNA. Extracting
DNA and its purification are most important in the fields of biotechnology and forensics. Although it may
sound to be a complicated process, DNA extraction can actually be simple. Extracting DNA from plants,
specifically from fruits, is simple enough and can even be done at home. The usual fruits used for DNA
extraction are kiwi, strawberry and banana.

For this experiment, a fresh ripe banana is used in the DNA extraction. The extraction process
follows the use of soap to break apart the cellular and nuclear membranes, releasing the DNA. Salt is
added to help the DNA strands come together and finally; alcohol is used to precipitate out the DNA.

Follow up Questions:

1. Describe the appearance of the DNA you extracted.

The DNA will appear white and will form a clump made of string-like strands that wrap onto

the glass rod.

2. What is the reason of using fresh ripe banana for DNA extraction?

Usually, bananas are because some bananas are diploid (2 copies of each chromosome – 22
chromosomes in total) and others are even triploid banana (3 copies of each chromosome). Ripe bananas
are good to use in DNA extraction because they can yield the highest amounts of extractable DNA
because they are at the hit the highest point of maturation.

3. Do you think your results would be different if you were to use a fruit or vegetable other

than bananas? Explain.

Since DNA is in the cells of every living organism, students could use this technique to extract

DNA from any fruit or vegetable.

References:

A DNA Extraction Laboratory. (2020). Retrieved 1 December 2020, from


https://www.towson.edu/fcsm/centers/stem/loanerlab/documents/meischers-manual.pdf

Extracting DNA from Bananas. (2020). Retrieved 1 December 2020, from


https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/education/activities/pdf/3214_01_nsn_01.pdf
EXTRACTING DNA FROM STRAWBERRIES. (2020). Retrieved 1 December 2020, from
https://www.michigan.gov/documents/explorelabscience/EXPERIMENT_-
_Extracting_DNA_from_strawberries_571577_7.pdf

Sayres, M. (2020). Banana DNA Extraction | Ask A Biologist. Retrieved 1 December 2020, from
https://askabiologist.asu.edu/activities/banana-dna

Çimen, Tuğçe. (2014). DNA EXTRACTİON LAB REPORT. 10.13140/RG.2.1.4624.0803.

Fleet, R. Banana DNA Extraction. Retrieved 8 December 2020, from


https://www.fleetscience.org/sites/default/files/files/Banana%20DNA%20Extraction.pdf

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