To isolate own DNA in your kitchen, you need only a few things that you can easily find in almost every home – or easily to buy. Check if you have: dishwashing liquid, a teaspoon of salt, pure ethanol, a clean glass, fridge and a little bit of patience.
Step-by-step instruction
- Put the ethanol in the freezer, let it cool down peacefully. He should spend a minimum of two hours there.
- In a glass, mix together a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid and three teaspoons of water.
- In a second vessel, dissolve the salt in water. The solution thus rinsed intensively rinsing our mouth for about 30 seconds – and then spit into a glass with detergent.
After thoroughly mixing the contents of the glass, we already have a solution in it with the DNA “extracted” from the cell – because the detergent caused the dissolution of cell membranes. Now you have to do it so that you can see something.
Slowly pour cold ethanol into the well-mixed solution we have. It’s best to do it on the wall, so that the alcohol forms a top layer, separated from the rest of the liquid – just like in multi-layered cocktails or drinks.
Put the glass aside and wait to see what is happening. After some time, thin, whitish threads will begin to precipitate from the solution and stick together. Salt causes them to clump together in clouds and tufts, moving up. They are just strands of DNA strand, pushed to the surface by air bubbles visible around them.
As you see, you can even at home, without access to specialized devices, isolate own genes. Also it’s worth to see effects of your DNA isolation through a microscope 😉
