Strawberries Lab Report

Introduction DNA is the molecule that is responsible for the storing and replicating of genetic material for an organism. The genetic material is the thing that gives an organism its identity. DNA is in the shape of a double helix. It consists of a phosphate group, deoxyribose, and a nitrogenous base. The phosphate groups are synthesised together to create an ester. The connected phosphate groups create a backbone that has a negative charge, is hydrophilic, and are antiparallel. Hydrophilic means that the DNA is able to be easily dissolved in the water because the water is polar and is very attracted to the DNA molecules. Fruits contain an enzyme called pectinase that helps to break down the cell wall of a cell. This allows for the DNA of the plant cell to be more easily extracted from the cell using an extraction buffer. The extraction buffer consists of soap, water, and salt. The soap helps to break down the phospholipid

This is due to the fact that the raspberries that were used may have been diploids, but the raspberries could also be tetradecaploid which would have a lot more DNA than the strawberries. Using the knowledge of the properties of DNA, this is what helps to explain why the DNA was able to be extracted. The buffer included polar molecule that were attracted to the DNA causing it to be dissolved from the cell. An anomaly that occurred was that a lot of DNA was present in the test tube of the strawberries, but when they were spooled out, there was not much DNA at all. This may have been because the DNA was too dissolved in the alcohol so it was unable to stay in its solid form long enough to be place on the paper. An error that may have occurred throughout the experiment was that the alcohol may not have been left long enough for the DNA to rise into it so that it would be able to be spooled