Extract visible and sufficient amounts of DNA from bird livers.
Features
- No special reagents are used.
- No special equipment is required.
- The experiment takes only 50 minutes of class time.
- Difficult reagent preparation is not necessary.
- Reagents can be stored at room temperature for a long time because no protease is used.
- DNA can be extracted from almost any meat sample, other than the liver of a bird. (Occasionally the amount of DNA obtained may be small, but visible amounts of DNA can be extracted.)
- Every student, not every group of students, can perform the experiment because the experiment kits are low in price.
- No dangerous reagents of phenol and chloroform are used.
- Because the experiment takes only about 30 minutes, the teacher has 10 minutes before and after the experiment for explanations or comments.
Purpose of the Experiment
Most cells have one nucleus with chromosomes. Chromosomes are composed of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), which encodes genetic information. DNA has a double helix structure of the four bases adenine (A), thymine (T), guanine (G), and cytosine (C). Since proteins are synthesized according to information from DNA, DNA serves as a blueprint. This is common for all microorganisms, plants, animals, and humans.
In molecular biology, experiments involving genes are performed on various occasions. In these experiments, the target DNA must be extracted from tissues or cells.
Using the kit, students can extract DNA, which is essential for studying molecular biology. By replacing a textbook only class with one using the kit, students can extract DNA, which means they will become more interested in molecular biology and deepen their curiosity.
