Splitting the Pea
March 6, 2011 @ 8:54 pm | Filed under: Fun Learning Stuff, Science
Jane takes a chemistry lab class once a week and last week she casually informed me that they had extracted DNA from split peas in class.
Me: Bwah?
Jane: Yep, with a blender.
Me: …
She told me how it worked and it sounded extremely cool and I asked for the directions. She found the experiment written up here, at the University of Utah’s Genetic Science Learning Center (but warned me, as I shall now warn you, that the background color is an assault on the eyes).
What you need:
Salt
Water
A small glass
A long toothpick or wooden stick
Detergent
A DNA source (split peas)
Contact lens solution
A blender
A measuring container
Rubbing alcohol
A test tube (optional)
Click through for instructions.
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Comments
4 Reponses | Comments Feed
Eileen Smithdeal says:
Can’t wait to try this…Thanks, Jane 🙂
On March 6, 2011 at 9:06 pm
Jordin says:
This is so COOL!!! Thank you for sharing!
On March 7, 2011 at 5:07 am
Cristilyn says:
Oooh, thanks for sharing! Can’t wait to do this!
On March 7, 2011 at 6:15 am
Elizabeth M says:
You can also use bananas, tomatoes, and strawberries.
I planned this for a Cub Scout science theme overnight. I’ll look to find my instructions too. We didn’t even need a blender for it.
The favorite part (keeping in mind these were 6-9 year old boys for the most part) — my husband explaining to them that the DNA strands together in the liquid would look like (sorry)…snot. Hey, it kept their attention through the actual teaching parts!
On March 7, 2011 at 6:42 am