Science Fair Projects About Food DNA

Does science fair projects about DNA prove that DNA exists in food?
image of Science Fair Projects about food DNA: kitchen science fair projects image of  Science Fair Projects about food DNA: image of life science fair projects image of  Science Fair Projects about food DNA: image of biology science fair projects image of  Science Fair Projects about food DNA: image of dna science fair projects


The Proof is in the DNA

Samantha
Grade 5
Texas, U.S.

Samantha presented her project before a group of science fair judges at her school. She won 1st Place out of 15 Life Science Projects. She then moved to the area science fair.

Question: Do food products have DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and can DNA be extracted for food products found in the common kitchen?

Materials
1 onion
1 broccoli
1 okra
1 banana
salt
dishwashing soap
meat tenderizer
rubbing alcohol
warm water


coffee filter paper
wooden toothpicks
knife and chopping board
strainer
blender
glass containers
measuring cups and spoons
Microscope or magnifying glass
Procedure
  1. Break the onion, broccoli, banana, and okra up into small pieces. Place one kitchen product into the blender for each experiment.

  2. Stir 1-teaspoon of salt into 1-cup of water. Pour the water into the blender with the kitchen product and chop for about 5 seconds.

  3. Transfer the mixture into t small glass container (about 50 ml), add 2-tablespoons of detergent and mix with a wooden toothpick for 5 minutes. This will break up the cell membrane.

  4. Using the coffee filter, strain about 50 ml of liquid.

  5. Add 1/8 of a teaspoon of meat tenderizer (an enzyme) and gently stir the mixture with a toothpick for another five minutes to remove the protein.

  6. Slowly pour in an amount of alcohol to equal the amount of mixture (about 50 ml).

  7. The alcohol will form a layer on top of the cell debris, and the DNA will come through the alcohol.

  8. Stir the alcohol layer carefully with the toothpick.

  9. The clear, snotty substance is the DNA.

  10. Examine the DNA under a microscope or magnifying glass.

Findings
Following the procedures for the experiment, I found that I was able to get some DNA material from most of the products. I was not able to get any from the okra. I don't know if this was because the okra was frozen or because it is just more difficult to work with. Next time I would try to get DNA from all fresh products because I thing that freezing them had an affect on extracting the DNA.

I compared my results with those I found on the internet. I believe that what I found is actually DNA from these products. DNA does exist in common kitchen products and can be extracted through a simple kitchen lab experiment.

Conclusions: DNA does exist in food products and can be extracted from food products found in the common kitchen.


image of science fair projects about food dna Isolate DNA material from food and vegetables found in your refrigerator! The DNA Isolation Kit makes experimentation easy.






More Science Fair Projects About Food DNA

image of Science Fair Projects about food dna: biology science fair projects image of Science Fair Projects about food dna: kitchen science fair projects image of Science Fair Projects about food dna: chemistry science fair projects image of Science Fair Projects about food dna: food science fair projects