Add a 1-inch section of banana to the plastic zip bag, seal it.
Mash it up! You don’t want solid chunks. Then add 1 tablespoon of water and mash some more.
It should be nice and liquid-y.
In one of the cups, add 1 teaspoon of clear soap, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of water. Stir gently until the salt has dissolved; try to avoid creating bubbles or foam.
Add the banana mixture to the cup with the soap mixture and stir gently.
Put a coffee filter over the 2nd cup so that there is at least 1” of space from the bottom of the cup. You can tape it or use a rubber band if you want it more secure.
Pour the banana mixture onto the filter while holding the filterin place. Let the mixture drip into the cup; wait about 10 minutes.
Discard the filter and the remaining banana mixture that did not filter into the cup.
Get cold isopropyl alcohol and measure out 1 tablespoon. Slowly dribble the alcohol down the side of the cup with the filtered banana mixture. You can use a dropper or spoon to add the liquid slowly. Let this sit for 4 minutes.
Observe the mixture. What do you see?
Slowly stir the mixture with the wooden stirring stick. Ifyou notice some white strands attached, this is the DNA. You can swirl themlike a strand of spaghetti.
You have extracted DNA!
