mmmmm ... DNA

December 5, 2004 5:02 PM

To settle the issue, I extracted my own DNA. I extracted the DNA of my subject. I tested both in a gel electrophoresis [flash] chamber that I built myself. As I suspected, although my DNA is delicious, I am not a kiwi fruit.
posted by deshead (6 comments total)

Ha! I think my PI will love the idea. We can save some money on the reagents. ;-)
posted by c13 at 5:26 PM on December 5, 2004

Oh fun!

::emails to all the 9 year olds she knows::
posted by kamylyon at 5:39 PM on December 5, 2004

The flash is great.

"You are holding a small plastic tube with some clear liquid in it. You've been told that the liquid contains DNA strands of different lengths. Your job is to figure out what lengths they are."

You are in a laboratory complex of twisty little passages, all alike. You can go North, South, Southeast, or West.
posted by The White Hat at 5:42 PM on December 5, 2004

If anyone has kids/knows kids and wants to show them what a lot of DNA all-in-one-place looks like, here's a simple kitchen-counter protocol for extracting onion DNA.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 5:54 PM on December 5, 2004

The bit in the homemade eletrophoresis protocol about using borax as a buffer is instructive -- it appears that using more common substances actually makes for better electrophoresis.
posted by greatgefilte at 6:29 PM on December 5, 2004

I am disappointed. When I read anything about DNA extraction I expect there to be information giving me easy instructions to crafting genetically perfect super soldiers, but yet this does not help me craft genetically perfect super soldiers.
posted by TwelveTwo at 11:59 PM on December 5, 2004