Byjus Logo

Turn your home into a science laboratory with this DIY

Team StoryWeavers|October 29, 2020, 07:40 IST| 197

Have you ever been told that you look like your mother or your father? Or perhaps they say that you share some common traits or features with your uncles, aunts or grandparents? Ever wondered why they say so? A few weeks ago we attempted to explain how our five senses work together to help us identify each individual as different from each other. Even then, what is it that still makes us look similar to our parents?

The answer lies in ‘genes’ (pronounced the same as jeans) that are present in our deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA. You may say that these genes are like painters. They decide whether to add curly or straight hair, give us long or short legs, or even specific details like the colour of our hair and eye!

Quick Learning Note

What are DNA, Genes, and Chromosomes?

Now to think of it, the way you look, see things, behave, and emotionally react, and those thousands of characteristics that differentiate you from other humans is probably due to a slight variation in portions of your DNA! Pretty incredible, right?

What if we tell you that you can extract your own DNA at home and that too using only some simple household items? 

Interested? Let’s dig in.

First, gather these items:

Materials for DNA Extraction at home

Let’s get started

  1. Take a paper cup, fill it with water. Now add one tablespoon of salt into the water and give it a good mix. (Make sure to completely dissolve the salt into the water)
  2. Now here is the fun part. Take the salt solution in your mouth and gargle it for one full minute. (Make sure not to drink it accidentally!)
  3. Spit out the gargled salt solution into the clear/transparent glass.
  4. Now add half a teaspoon of liquid dishwasher soap into the salt solution and mix well. Mix it gently so that NO BUBBLES are formed. Keep it aside.
  5. Carefully pour the chilled rubbing alcohol into another paper cup. Tilt your glass approximately 45 degrees and gently pour the rubbing alcohol. Since the alcohol is less dense, it will sit atop the salt and soap solution.
  6. In approximately three to four minutes, you would begin to see a milky white thread, possibly interspersed with bubbles, appearing between the solution and the alcohol. That is your DNA – the code of life.
  7. Wait for a couple of minutes for the DNA to be suspended in the alcohol layer.
  8. To save it, carefully scrape the DNA into a small container. Add a few drops of alcohol and seal it. Store it in a freezer and you may preserve your DNA forever!
DNA Extraction DIY activity

That is your DNA

If this experiment was exciting for you, let’s go a step further and try out the same experiment using strawberries. Why strawberries? That is because they have eight copies of each chromosome (they are octoploid). That’s a LOT of DNA to isolate!

  1. Start by following the first step in the previous experiment.
  2. Now add half a teaspoon of liquid dishwasher soap into the salt solution and mix well. (just like in Step FOUR of the previous experiment). Keep it aside.
  3. Take a ziplock bag (additional item for this experiment) and pour the soap and salt solution along with two to three ripened strawberries in it.
  4. Squeeze out as much air as you can from the bag, seal it, and then smash the strawberries. You will notice that the strawberries will turn pulpy.
  5. Take a sieve or a mesh strainer (another additional item) and strain out the pulpy strawberries solution into a clear glass.
  6. Now add about 5ml of your cold rubbing alcohol into the solution and gently mix.
  7. Wait for a few minutes for the solution to settle, and voila! You should see the DNA neatly forming in the alcohol layer.

 

So what happened in both the experiments? The dish soap dissolved the cell membranes to get to that genetic material. The salt broke down the nucleic acids into something a bit more manageable. And your DNA, which is not soluble in the alcohol, got exposed.

There you go. You now know the secret (and perhaps the easiest!) way to extract DNA.

Do these experiments intrigue you to learn more about DNA? You can watch this video on DNA and learn all about it.

Liked this story? Try our more such fun DIY experiments at your home.

Chemistry Laboratory in your Kitchen

Make your own Stethoscope at Home

About the Author


Books are Tanaya Goswami’s first love and cheesecakes come a close second. Talking about movies, music, calligraphy, politics, and Elon Musk will get you listed under the friends’ section of her diary. Ever since moving on from her job as an English lecturer, she spends her time at BYJU’S crafting stories filled with emotion and sprinkled with sarcasm. Outside of work, she’s either learning something new (French, most recently!) or is curled up with a book and a cup of coffee. She firmly believes that discovering what you don’t know is the key to knowledge and is constantly working towards improving herself. Drop in a line at storyweavers@byjus.com if you liked her stories, have something nice to say, or if you have compelling ideas to share!

Leave a Comment


*

Comments



Maithreyi Devanathan

February 16, 2021

OMG super……


Saumya singh

January 20, 2021

Its gorgeous!!Byjus is amazing


PEARL ABIGAIL

January 3, 2021

It’s amazing. I have never heard of such interesting DIY


Shravani

December 28, 2020

nice information team BJYU’S

I didn’t knew that genes is written as genes and pronounced as jeans. I always thought genes is written as jeans. haha……

nice experiment……especially the first one.

(and someone in the comments asked what is DIY. DIY is Do it yourself )


LILY CHOUDHARY

December 26, 2020

this is very exciting and informative….


Anushree More

December 20, 2020

Really awesome and fascinating experiment ….never thought DNA could be extracted from my body and that too at my home….!!!!!!!! So really thankful to Byjus…..


Shravya

December 17, 2020

Wow it’s an amazing experiment ????
Thank you for sharing ? really interesting ??


Utkarsh

December 11, 2020

I have joined byju 1 year ago and I am loving it


KRISHNAPRIYAN

December 11, 2020

Great!!!!!


Autoshi kayal

December 7, 2020

Great ?


VISHAL

December 1, 2020

very intersting and a nice expariment to spend time in lockdown


Hima

November 28, 2020

I love these experiment. I am waiting to do more of these.


Hima

November 28, 2020

I love these experiment. I am waiting to do more of these


Hima

November 28, 2020

I love doing these experiments at my home.


Bhumika

November 28, 2020

Amazing


Vaishnavi

November 24, 2020

DNA is very small at microscopic level .so we can’t see it with our naked eyes. Than how it is visible by performing this activity. What makes DNA visible in this activity? What happened at the microscopic level in it?


Goldi

November 19, 2020

It was very interesting.Absolutely amazing ????????????????????


Madhiarasu

November 18, 2020

Madhiarasu
I almost love the DNA topic is the awesome to learn the easy lesson to learn.


Shreya

November 11, 2020

Wow !


Harshitha vallamalla

November 10, 2020

Thank u so much for this information


Mansvi

November 10, 2020

Nice experience ….


Swechha Sharma

November 9, 2020

It’s amazing


Trishita Gupta

November 9, 2020

Wow just amazing! *Star* !
I love reading biology , dna ,atp etc …..


Diya Rajput

November 8, 2020

Best ?


Nuthan

November 6, 2020

It’s very interesting experiment.
I will try this.


Ankita

November 6, 2020

This is awesome.Thank you Byjus.


Sahithi

November 6, 2020

Awesome.


Barish Sarkar

November 5, 2020

Amazing experiment,loved it ??


v.keerthana

November 5, 2020

can we use sanitizer instead of rubbing alcohol for the DNA exp


Anshika Singh

November 5, 2020

It is really good


Shikha

November 3, 2020

So nice experiment . It’s very interesting ?


Twisha Tandel

November 3, 2020

I love to do DIY


Hanu

November 2, 2020

Super I had tried this . Super super


Crispin Chacko Albert

November 2, 2020

Wow! This is nice.


Shyam Sunder

November 2, 2020

Thanks for such a nice experimental activity…


Sreejata Chakraborty

November 2, 2020

Really , It’s a amazing experiment . I love it … ????


Kumar Subhankar

November 2, 2020

Wow ????????????????????so nice its amazing


Mitakshi Sandeep nikam

November 1, 2020

I love this I want to be a space girl?‍???


Amit Kumar

November 1, 2020

Super????


R.T.Darshni

November 1, 2020

Byjus is very helpful and supportive and I explore more in byjus after I joined in byjus I have started to asking more questions and I want some more events in byjus please call me after watching this comment. and I want some more events please give me a link that goes into byjus live classes.thank you.


Abhispita Kashyap

November 1, 2020

Omg soooo amazing
I will surely try this
Then I will havey family’s dna?.


V .Divyaa dharsini

November 1, 2020

Super?????????????


Kamalika

November 1, 2020

Super mam it’s really great


Raja Babu

November 1, 2020

Super se ve uper


Alna kunjumon

November 1, 2020

Thankyou byju,’s


Samadrita Sen

October 31, 2020

Wow…so knowledgeable


Bhavi Rathore

October 31, 2020

Just shocked!!!!!!!!!!??


Bhavi Rathore

October 31, 2020

Loved that ??


Chayan Khatua

October 31, 2020

Fantastic


Keshika

October 31, 2020

That was really amazing one ! I love it ! ????


Evelyn

October 31, 2020

This is really interesting


Dharun

October 30, 2020

Super❤❤


Rajdeep Kundu

October 30, 2020

Really ,very interesting experiment


Swastik Maity

October 30, 2020

Happy to aquire knowledge from Byju’s ……
I came to know many things about DNA …..
Thank you Byju’s…..


Swastik Maity

October 30, 2020

Really interesting


Mrunal Sandeep Gadhe

October 30, 2020

Wow it is very interesting information about DNA.?


NK Das

October 30, 2020

Really interesting ❤️❤️❤️


Parvathi Ajayakumar

October 30, 2020

Its really amazing…………..??


satyam Kumar bishwas

October 30, 2020

Amazing experiment ? ?


Darwin

October 30, 2020

Asome cool and easy!!!???!!!


AYUSH

October 29, 2020

I like this experiment very much. Thanks BYJU’S.


Sneha chirakkal

October 29, 2020

Awsome idea! ?


Anukriti Rajak

October 29, 2020

Thank you for providing this SUPER CREATIVE & INTERESTING experiment ???
Have a joyful day ahead
Anukriti


Mahathi Muthu

October 29, 2020

OMG!!! It’s really a stunning experiment and I haven’t heard something like this till now.
Thank you byju’s??


Gopalghare Ujwal

October 29, 2020

Great!!!! I Like It


Mayank antil

October 29, 2020

I did this.
It’s intresting


Harsha

October 29, 2020

It’s too niceee & awsm I never thought of this, It’s really exciting to do. I thank the Author alot!


Steven Darshan Shaiju

October 28, 2020

Really surprising to see the DNA…


Hanish sharma

October 28, 2020

V.very nice.


Jason

October 28, 2020

You always give us amazing DIYs and this is one of them. Thank you team byjus!


Jason

October 28, 2020

I never thought I would see my DNA!! This is one must-do activity!!


Ayush Ranjan

October 28, 2020

V.good


Rutuja Masal

October 28, 2020

Wow! Superb! Really so good and useful information.so nice experiments.


Astha

October 28, 2020

Superb!!!???


Payal Singh

October 28, 2020

I actually try it and it was so great. Now I can preserve my DNA . Great work byjus ☺️


Sai sreeja

October 28, 2020

I really interesting to do this thanks for giving the process


Spandan

October 28, 2020

Awesome work Byju’s!!!!!
Love you Byju’s??


Spandan

October 28, 2020

Awesome work Byju’s
Love you Byju’s??


Parvathy Biju

October 28, 2020

Wow!! Obviously gonna try this!?


Tanvi Roy

October 27, 2020

I tried it
Cakes out great


Rima Kumari

October 27, 2020

Amazing!!???


Sindhu.

October 27, 2020

Amazing


Drushti Sakhare

October 27, 2020

Wow!……..it was such a amazing experiment that I have never heard and seen before. I’ll surely try it.


Aarshi Rai

October 27, 2020

I have made the dna it was amazing ?


Palak Beniwal

October 27, 2020

It’s so amazing . I always wait for next DNA experiment
I love it so so so much ??


Piyush gautam

October 27, 2020

Amazing experiment


Sreehari.R

October 27, 2020

Super I liked it


Kritika patel

October 26, 2020

Wow !!! Great !!! I will surely do it …


Shikha Rao

October 26, 2020

Wow it’s very nice ???


Maitrayee Sil

October 26, 2020

Amazing ??.


Shashi

October 26, 2020

It was very interesting! Can you also tell us about telescope?


Aarav Ahuja

October 26, 2020

It is amazing , but I don’t have cold rubbing alcohol . Thanks byju’s for this lovely Experiment


Patricia G

October 26, 2020

Fascinating ?


Saurabh

October 26, 2020

He is absolutely sensesnal


Deepak Kumar Hansda

October 26, 2020

It was too much fun with learning about (DNA) really really awesome.


Sanika Kendre

October 26, 2020

Wow!!! What a invention!
I got totally shocked after reading this ?
I will surely try this one??


Shrinwanti

October 26, 2020

OMG ?????????
I love it. After doing this experiment ,I am getting interest in Biology ?????????


Bhawna rawat

October 26, 2020

Oh my god! This is so interesting. I think I have to do this. Thank you byju’s very much.


Bhawna rawat

October 26, 2020

Oh my god! This is so interesting. I think I have to do this.???


Aastha

October 26, 2020

Wow! I am surprised!
A great DIY!


Sidra

October 25, 2020

Ooo i just loving this DIY thank you byjus for this ❤


D. Adiba Noorain

October 25, 2020

Amazing


Akshayv

October 25, 2020

A sure


R.Hemavathi

October 25, 2020

Really, I love it Byju’s ….. Thanks for giving such interesting and useful blogs….


Shruti sahare

October 25, 2020

OMG ?❤️
It is really fun ?
I have never seen before?
And now I understand Dna


Skanda

October 25, 2020

Cool..
Il give it a try???


Anishka Sharma

October 25, 2020

This is an easy experiment with daily usage things things at home l tried it was so fascinating and easy also. Please you try also. Happy dussehra??


Tanya shrivastava

October 25, 2020

What can we use instead of rubbing alcohol


Chintan Rohit Surana

October 25, 2020

Loved this now I can also put this idea on my youtube channel
Channel name
Crazie I EXPERIMENTS
Loved this
I done now


Jamin Nayak

October 25, 2020

OMG???


Harsh kumar singh

October 25, 2020

Amazing ???


Devarakonda Bhargavi

October 25, 2020

Wow !! Great experiment !!??


Aditi

October 25, 2020

thankyou Byju’s


Aditi

October 25, 2020

supper helpfull
and intresting
I would love to explor more about DNA


Adyasha

October 25, 2020

Wow! Amazing D.I.Y!! Amazing experiment!! Thank you Byju’s ??????


Iqra Amjad

October 25, 2020

OMG!!! What a curious facts… I love DNA


Anushka Sharma

October 25, 2020

Wow!
Great expriment


Sheetal Jain

October 25, 2020

It’s awesome??


Shipra Shill

October 25, 2020

??so nice


Shipra Shill

October 25, 2020

So nice ,?


Archi Jais

October 24, 2020

Wow it’s fabulous. I have no words.
Great thing which I learned today


Aishani Singh

October 24, 2020

This activity is really good!
This activity is special for me because I only love science because of the DNA


Samruddhi

October 24, 2020

You always do welfare of students and make future thank you so much


Ruben Mathew

October 24, 2020

This is great


HarshVardhan Singh Yadav

October 24, 2020

I can’t believe it.
Amazing??
Thank you BYJU’S for giving me such a nice knowledge.?
Thank you so much!


Bhumi Singh

October 24, 2020

OMG !!! It’s great ☺️ we can see our DNA by not doing much and I just loved to learn ? about DNA….


Saanvi

October 24, 2020

*one of my dreams


Saanvi

October 24, 2020

I always wanted to see my DNA! Though I rather imagined it to be literally colourful as seen in diagram! Guess of my dreams actually came true!??


Srishaa

October 24, 2020

Really i love on reading about dna


Sayanthpv

October 24, 2020

Amazing


Kanak Malkoti

October 24, 2020

Nice? sure I will give it a try ?


Sakshi Singh

October 24, 2020

Amazed to know… DNA could be extracted at home… I had heard earlier about the experiment of extracting DNA of strawberries but haven’t expected that this could work for humans as well… I am going to try this… Really Like the content…??


Anam

October 24, 2020

I didn’t know that what is dna but after seeing this I understood everything.

Love you byju’s


Divya

October 24, 2020

Wow,.,.,.,.,. It was really great reading this activity ?????????


Charanjeet Kaur

October 24, 2020

It so fantastic, easy, and most importantly learnable…..
Thank you byjus!


Hemanth

October 24, 2020

What is DIY
What is this explain


Sanvi Tiwari

October 24, 2020

Oh My God ????

Never expected this kind of experiment Means DNA at home seriously . Amazing ????
Great …………

I’ll surely try this .??


#JAY31

October 24, 2020

Oh Wow! What if I store my DNA today and I become a star tomorrow ?? My DNA will be kept for years!!!????


Aswathi

October 24, 2020

OMG
DNA in a glass …….
Great !!

Thank you BYJUS for this wonderful DIY


Aditya R Hegdekatte

October 24, 2020

Its just fantastic expiriment.


Mehatab

October 24, 2020

Mashallah????
It’s amazing that we can discover our own DNA????????????


Aadya L

October 24, 2020

One of the best teachings I have got ……. Expecely in lockdown I have utilised it a lot . I have received a lenovo tablet ……., which is helping me out in many ways for my studies …. I am thankful for the Byjus team and the teachers for all there best services .

And last but not least….. the experiment was great !!


Aanya Sinha

October 24, 2020

It’s a good activity . I really loved it.??


prit patil

October 24, 2020

So good experiment i love that


srivarshini.

October 24, 2020

A very funny experiment never listened before,
And an interesting info about DNA


pragya bhatnagar

October 24, 2020

wow….. it was awsome…..


Rimi

October 24, 2020

Wow….loved to read this DNA ….
And really lam gonna try this


Utkarsh

October 24, 2020

I try it
It is very very easy??


Jyotsana Kumari

October 24, 2020

Very nice..??????


Bhavishya

October 24, 2020

I am excited about DNA and then after reading it is wonderful ❤️?and byjus thanks for this??


Manasa

October 24, 2020

wow!!?


Yash Raj

October 24, 2020

It can effect in our body? We can drink our dna again


Harinandh. P

October 24, 2020

Amazing✌️?✌️


Abhishek Pawaskar

October 24, 2020

What a interesting information it is.


Nanditha.K.V

October 24, 2020

That’s great, fabulous


Shweta Singh

October 24, 2020

Fantastic!
As I would like to do this experiment, I have all the materials except rubbing alcohol. Kindly advice where can I get it? Is it available at home in some other form, we are not aware of?


Yashraz Mandal

October 24, 2020

I Love to do some new experiments so I will try it. Thanks BYJU’S for sending me this amazing experiment.?????????????????????????


ZainabKazi

October 24, 2020

OMG ? that’s great ??


ZainabKazi

October 24, 2020

Omg it’s so amazing.such a nice experiment ✨?


Caroline Faria

October 24, 2020

Omg this experiment is exciting. I’ll do it!


YADUKRISHNAN

October 24, 2020

Wow super thank you byju’s for giving me such a knowledge…….???


Nitish

October 24, 2020

WOW???


Shaafiya

October 24, 2020

??


Pooja .v

October 24, 2020

Wow , amazing. Very creative and awesome.


Vansh dhar diwan

October 24, 2020

Wow !!??


Aayush joshi

October 24, 2020

Wow that was great I did not know before how to check DNA at home but now I got how to check I am very thankful to Byjus for telling me such a great information


Aaditya Jadhav

October 24, 2020

I haven’t tried it yet but it does seem awesome! I love doing research on microscopic substances. They are pretty amazing!


Vineet Singh

October 24, 2020

This is awesome!!! It gives me a lot information about DNA. Thanks Byju’s Diy.???


PRITHIKA

October 24, 2020

Wowww thank you for the information


Arth Barnawal

October 24, 2020

Unbelievable data ? a good experiment at free time


Swastik Banerjee

October 24, 2020

Good and useful, and also very interesting??.


Samriddhi Dubey

October 24, 2020

Oh my goddddd!!!! Where do you guys find these unique new experimentsss…


Rachita ✌️

October 24, 2020

Wow !! What an info. about DNA and an amazing DIY!! Loved it ??


Sanchita Chandangirwar

October 24, 2020

Wow?! Beautiful


Tahreem

October 24, 2020

Amazing. ???


Swastik Banerjee

October 24, 2020

It’s very useful and very happy to read the unknown facts about DNA. I really found it very interesting?? and good??. ?


Krishav Raj

October 24, 2020

??OMG!? it’s ? awesome ??
??And? very ?nice.??


Jay Prakash Mehta

October 24, 2020

I really like this type of experiments & I have never heard this type of experiments


BHAVANA P

October 24, 2020

Fabulous?


Gayatri santosh mhaske

October 24, 2020

It is very nice ? amazing


Siddhi Pravin Bothe

October 24, 2020

Good it is


Prachi yadav

October 24, 2020

Very nice.
I definitely try it.
Awesome diy


Sejal Sharma

October 23, 2020

It’s really amazing!!??


Anjani Jha

October 23, 2020

This was so much fun I was so bored in my house and then my mom just told me that there is message from byju’s and I thought that it’s a message about studies and then when I opened it up I got so excited and I tried it and it worked so now it’s in my fridge thank you so much byju’s


Krishna periwal

October 23, 2020

Omg really great a great expirement


Gurkirat Singh Mann

October 23, 2020

It is nice method,
But l’ve already eaten DNA(deoxyribonucleic acid)


Amrita

October 23, 2020

OMG auch nice


ShreyashiMishra

October 23, 2020

I also try to make my DNA, it is very interesting experiments.?


S.RITHIK KRISHNA

October 23, 2020

I liked to read about dna


Abhinav L G

October 23, 2020

Super ❤️❤️


Hiiya Ramwani

October 23, 2020

It’s absolutely amazing ???????


Rk trupthi

October 23, 2020

Nice


Sadhana

October 23, 2020

Wow !!! Great !!!! I just love reading about DNA(deoxyribonucleic acid). ??


Saksham Raj Singh

October 23, 2020

Looking at the stars
Thinking about my life
It was good when we were kids
It was legit no worries and no tension
– STUDENT


Shrishti Dey

October 23, 2020

Really…interesting


Desheeba Nehal Odakkal

October 22, 2020

OMG! Grt?


Testimonials

Join 100+MN Registered BYJU'S Users

Book Your Free Class Now

Thank you!

Your details have been submitted
successfully.