dna extraction

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DNA isolation is a process of purification of DNA from sample using a combination of physical and chemical methods. The first isolation of DNA was done in 1869 by Friedrich Miescher. DNA stands for deoxyribose nucleic acid. It consists of two strands that wrap around each other in a shape called a double helix. There are also four bases that make up DNA that are adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Each base pairs up its specific such that adenine always pairs with thymine and guanine with cytosine. Since Miescher’s discovery many advances have been made in DNA such as defining its structure, finding out what DNA is made out of and the art of DNA extraction.
Friedrich Miescher was a Swiss physician and the first scientist to isolate DNA in 1869 (Tan). “Using arduous and complicated procedures, Miescher proved that the new substance did indeed come from cell nuclei, and that is was a fundamentally new type of organic molecule unlike anything known at the time” (Dahm, 2008). DNA extraction is the removal of DNA from the cell that it originates.
The process of DNA extraction is now an easier one that can be done in classrooms at high schools. The process is first breaking open the cell or virus that has the DNA. This is calling lysing the cell. This is commonly achieved by chemical and physical methods-blending, grinding or sonicating the sample. Then the DNA is mixed with ethanol or isopropanol and the is centrifuged. This helps extract the DNA because DNA is insoluble in alcohol. Then the DNA pellet is washed with alcohol again and centrifuged once more to gain the final DNA pellet. Once the pellet is dry, the DNA is added to a buffer and then its presence is confirmed by electrophoresis gel of under a UV light. A diphenylamin...

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...ested on stool samples collected from 3 patients with Inflammatory Bowel disease and 5 healthy individuals.

4. Rice, G. (n.d.). Dna extraction. Retrieved from http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/research_methods/genomics/dnaext.html

DNA extraction is removing the DNA from the cells or virus that it is originally from. In order to extract the DNA the cell must break open or lyse. Three instruments used for DNA extraction are a bead beater, centrifuge, and a gel box.

5. Tan, S. C. (n.d.). Dna, rna, and protein extraction: The past and the present. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2789530/

There are many techniques used to extract DNA. There are solution based and column based protocols. The process of extraction and purification of DNA is now easier than before. There are now automated systems in labs that have a high output of samples.

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