Kevin Palmer
Well-Known Member
Below is the link that was provided to me. It was required for a class I am taking. I varied it slightly and had MUCH better results than most.
I suggest using my method as you will get a MUCH better viewing of the DNA as it floats to the surface.
Let it sit for some time at the end and it will turn out to be a very clear and easy to see event.
I have pictures of the end result in my Library if you care to see them...
Ok, first here is a cut and paste of my method. This literally took 15 minutes to do. I let it sit for 30 minutes after words...
Materials and Methods: In my case, I followed the experiment pretty close as I figured it would give me the greatest percentage of success. The only thing I deviated from was to use small ice cream bowls as well as I used contact eye cleaner, of which I added a bit more than what was called for as I could see it was having an effect on the mixture almost instantly. Also, I use “The Magic Bullet†instead of a blender as it does a great job of getting things to a very small fine mixture.
With the aid of my daughter Paige (10 years old) we used ½ half cup of split peas, 1/8 teaspoon of salt and 1 cup of cold water. We put this mixture into the Magic Bullet (Mini blender on steroids kind of thing) and let the mixture get pretty well pulverized. The directions call for 15 seconds in a blender, I would think this would be a minimum amount of time as even in the Magic Bullet it took amount 60 seconds to do a very good job.
Next you need to take this mixture and pour it through a strainer. Not having a very fine strainer actually worked out as a bonus. It allowed some of the foamy mixture through to the container we were draining into and yet no chunks of peas made it to the container. You will then need to add two-tablespoons of liquid detergent. We used Tide (High Energy solution which is used for the newer style front loading machines). I was cautious here as it says to swirl in the detergent. I poured in the detergent and gently swirled it allowing it to mix into the pea mixture. Being careful not to add any air to the mixture we just took our time and gently swirled it. We then let it sit for about fifteen minutes or so as we were busy doing other things. I think the extended sit time was a positive thing as the mixture settled fairly well.
Now, you will need to add some sort of an enzyme. Enzyme is added as it is a triggering device to get the cells to active, much like what happens in our body when protein tells the cells that is needs to do something. As we did not have any meat tenderizer, which is what the experiment suggests to use, we used Contact Lens cleaner. Also, I was able to see it affecting the mixture as soon as I added it. The experiment calls for a “pinchâ€. Since we saw change instantly, we used more than what was called for. I would say about 2 seconds worth of a light squeeze to the bottle.
If you were to use a test tube as called for, adding alcohol as described (pouring down the side of the test tube) would work. However, we used considerably larger bowls and I was concerned about pouring the Rubbing alcohol directly into the mixture and creating it to mix more so than to stay on top as needed for the experiment to work. So, with Paige holding a spoon (right side up) directly over the pea soup mixture, I poured the Rubbing Alcohol onto the spoon which allowed the alcohol to lightly fall onto the top of the pea soup mixture and cause no mixing issues. After just a moment we were seeing a white frothy mixture rise into the alcohol. We got busy playing baseball and came back inside. We took another look at the experiment and it had separated very well. It was very clear, not like looking at a fuzzy picture which is what we first saw. The longer we let it sit, the better it got. As noted, I took some pictures of the end result, please take a moment to look at them and let me know your thoughts
I suggest using my method as you will get a MUCH better viewing of the DNA as it floats to the surface.
Let it sit for some time at the end and it will turn out to be a very clear and easy to see event.
I have pictures of the end result in my Library if you care to see them...
Ok, first here is a cut and paste of my method. This literally took 15 minutes to do. I let it sit for 30 minutes after words...
Materials and Methods: In my case, I followed the experiment pretty close as I figured it would give me the greatest percentage of success. The only thing I deviated from was to use small ice cream bowls as well as I used contact eye cleaner, of which I added a bit more than what was called for as I could see it was having an effect on the mixture almost instantly. Also, I use “The Magic Bullet†instead of a blender as it does a great job of getting things to a very small fine mixture.
With the aid of my daughter Paige (10 years old) we used ½ half cup of split peas, 1/8 teaspoon of salt and 1 cup of cold water. We put this mixture into the Magic Bullet (Mini blender on steroids kind of thing) and let the mixture get pretty well pulverized. The directions call for 15 seconds in a blender, I would think this would be a minimum amount of time as even in the Magic Bullet it took amount 60 seconds to do a very good job.
Next you need to take this mixture and pour it through a strainer. Not having a very fine strainer actually worked out as a bonus. It allowed some of the foamy mixture through to the container we were draining into and yet no chunks of peas made it to the container. You will then need to add two-tablespoons of liquid detergent. We used Tide (High Energy solution which is used for the newer style front loading machines). I was cautious here as it says to swirl in the detergent. I poured in the detergent and gently swirled it allowing it to mix into the pea mixture. Being careful not to add any air to the mixture we just took our time and gently swirled it. We then let it sit for about fifteen minutes or so as we were busy doing other things. I think the extended sit time was a positive thing as the mixture settled fairly well.
Now, you will need to add some sort of an enzyme. Enzyme is added as it is a triggering device to get the cells to active, much like what happens in our body when protein tells the cells that is needs to do something. As we did not have any meat tenderizer, which is what the experiment suggests to use, we used Contact Lens cleaner. Also, I was able to see it affecting the mixture as soon as I added it. The experiment calls for a “pinchâ€. Since we saw change instantly, we used more than what was called for. I would say about 2 seconds worth of a light squeeze to the bottle.
If you were to use a test tube as called for, adding alcohol as described (pouring down the side of the test tube) would work. However, we used considerably larger bowls and I was concerned about pouring the Rubbing alcohol directly into the mixture and creating it to mix more so than to stay on top as needed for the experiment to work. So, with Paige holding a spoon (right side up) directly over the pea soup mixture, I poured the Rubbing Alcohol onto the spoon which allowed the alcohol to lightly fall onto the top of the pea soup mixture and cause no mixing issues. After just a moment we were seeing a white frothy mixture rise into the alcohol. We got busy playing baseball and came back inside. We took another look at the experiment and it had separated very well. It was very clear, not like looking at a fuzzy picture which is what we first saw. The longer we let it sit, the better it got. As noted, I took some pictures of the end result, please take a moment to look at them and let me know your thoughts
Last edited by a moderator:
