Biology Lab Report

Name: Jacky Chung

Class: Y10 Hope

Science Teacher: Mr Kitwood

Experiment to investigate the effect of changing the mass of the

liquid detergent added on the quantity of DNA extracted in
height.

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Research
Why scientist/forensic scientist extract DNA?

DNA extraction is useful in many ways of the application of everyday life; therefore, scientist
and forensic scientist often extracts DNA for various purposes.

Firstly, one of the most obvious reason for forensic scientist to extract DNA is that it can be
useful at determining whether someone is innocence or the culprit through extracting DNA
from small pieces of evidence like hair, saliva, blood or even fingerprints, which can be
extremely helpful in the forensic field. (Mr Kitwood explained in class)

Secondly, extracting DNA can also aid in the medical field as it can help us to understand the
genetic causes of some disease, which can be helpful during the process of finding a cure for
a disease, as having more knowledge about the fundamentals of the disease can often be
helpful in developing drugs that are effective in curing it. ("DNA Extraction | Summary."
DNA Extraction | Summary. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.)

In addition, after extracting DNA from fruit and studying about it, scientist are able to apply
the understanding they have and genetically edit fruits and crop, enhancing the nutrition in it.
Using banana as an example, DNA extraction have allowed scientist to understand more
about the fruit itself, and modified it so that the amount of Vitamin A that can be found in the
fruit increase, which is extremely helpful in saving people who suffers from vitamin A

deficiency. (Coming soon: Genetically edited 'super bananas' and other fruit? n.pag.)

Why is detergent, salt and alcohol used in DNA extraction? What effect do these thing have
on the cell? You may need to discuss the structure of DNA and cell membranes.

Detergent: The role detergent plays in a DNA extraction experiment is to disrupt the bonds
which held the cell membrane together by dissolving the proteins and fats of it. The fats and
protein then precipitates out of the solution with the detergent as they forms complexes,
which will allow the DNA cell to be extracted, as it is no longer protected inside the cell
membrane. ("What Is the Role of Detergent in DNA Extraction?" Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo!,
n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.)

Salt: The role salt plays in a DNA extraction experiment is to help remove the proteins
associated with DNA; moreover, it also helps in making the DNA solid and visible. In
addition, salt also gives the phosphate ends of DNA which carry negative charges a barrier,
which will allow them be extracted out of the solution as they are moved closer. ( "What Is the
Purpose of Salt in DNA Extraction?" Reference. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.)

Ethanol: The role ethanol play in a DNA extraction experiment is fairly similar to salt, their
roles are both there to force the DNA to precipitate out and rise on to the top of the solution,
hence avoid the DNA from dissolving into the bottom of the test tube (water). Moreover, it
also makes the DNA more visible so it is easy to measure the dependent variable. ("What Is
the Purpose of Ethanol in DNA Extraction?" Reference. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.)

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 Hypothesis
I predict that as the mass of liquid detergent added increases, the quantity of DNA extracted
in height will also increase. This is based on the prior research Ive conducted above,
detergent is used in DNA extraction to help to disrupt the bonds which held the cell
membrane together by dissolving the proteins and fats of it; therefore, if more mass of liquid
detergent is added, there will be a larger disruption, which will allow the DNA to be released
in the solution more easily, and hence, increasing the quantity of DNA extracted in height.

Variables
Independent Variable - Mass of liquid detergent added (Grams / g)
Range of IV measured - 0g, 5g, 10g, 15g and 25g

The procedure to change the independent variable - Simply measure different mass of liquid
detergent by pouring the detergent into the 100mL beaker and adjusting the mass until it is at
the appropriate mass using the electronic balance.

Dependent Variable - Quantity of DNA extracted in Height. (Millimeter / mm)

The procedure to measure the independent variable - Simply use a ruler to measure the
quantity of DNA extracted in height by aligning the ruler next to the test tube, and carefully
look at the result and record it down with a computer.

Controlle Procedure to control it and Explain why it matters to the investigation.

d variable
(units)
Mass of Each time I manipulate the independent variables to investigate the effect of it on the dependent
crushed variable, the mass of the crushed strawberry should stay constant. In order to control this variable,
strawberry firstly, I will crushed the strawberries using a mortar and pestle, then I will pour the crushed
(g) strawberries into a 100mL beaker and measure its mass using an electronic balance, making sure
every time I repeat the experiment the mass of crushed strawberries will stay constant (20g). If this
variable is not kept constant, the investigation will be affected as the result will not show the effect
of changing the independent variable properly, as the quantity of DNA extracted in height can either
be increased on decreased depending on the mass of the crushed strawberries.
(Buddies, Science. "Squishy Science: Extract DNA from Smashed Strawberries." Scientific
American. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.)
Temperatu Each time I manipulate the independent variables to investigate the effect of it on dependent
re of water variable, the temperature of the water bath which the beaker containing the mixture is placed in
bath (C) should stay constant. In order to control this variable, I will use the same water bath provided in
class which its temperature is measured by a thermometer every time I repeat the experiment (60C),
making sure this variable stays constant. If this variable is not kept constant, the investigation will be
affected as the result will not show the effect of changing the independent variable properly, if the
temperature is increased after a trial, it might cause the DNA to dissolve or even denature, whereas,
if the temperature is decreased, the quantity of DNA extracted will also differ; therefore, this
variable should be kept constant.
("What Does Hot Water Do to the Cell during an DNA Extraction?" Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo!, n.d.
Web. 05 Feb. 2017.)
Time in Each time I manipulate the independent variables to investigate the effect on dependent variable, the
hot water time of the beaker containing the mixture is placed in the hot water bath should stay constant. In

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bath order to control this variable, I will use a timer and immediately start timing after placing the beaker
(mins) containing the mixture, then after a certain time limit our group set (10 minutes), I will take the
beaker out of the water bath. If this variable is not kept constant, the investigation will be affected as
the result will not show the effect of changing the independent variable properly, as it might increase
or decrease the quantity of DNA extracted in height.
("What Does Hot Water Do to the Cell during an DNA Extraction?" Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo!, n.d.
Web. 05 Feb. 2017.)
Volume of Each time I manipulate the independent variables to investigate the effect of it on dependent
ethanol variable, the volume of ethanol added to test tube should stay constant. In order to control this
added variable, I will use a dropper to measure it and making sure it stays the same every time I repeat the
(mL) experiment (5mL) If this variable is not kept constant, the investigation will be affected as the role of
ethanol in this experiment is to force the DNA to precipitate out and rise on to the top of the
solution, increasing or decreasing the volume of ethanol added after a trial can affect the visibility of
DNA extracted, hence affect the reliability of this experiment.
("What Is the Purpose of Ethanol in DNA Extraction?" Reference. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.)
Mass of Each time I manipulate the independent variables to investigate the effect of it on dependent
salt added variable, the mass of salt added to mixture should stay constant. In order to control this variable, I
(g) will pour the salt into a 100mL beaker and measure its mass using an electronic balance, making
sure it stays constant every time I repeat the experiment (2g). If this variable is not kept constant, the
investigation will be affected as the role of salt in this experiment is to help remove the proteins
associated with DNA; moreover, it also helps in making the DNA solid and visible; therefore, if the
mass of salt added is increased or decreased after a trial, the visibility and the quantity in height of
the DNA extracted can be altered, hence, lowering the reliability of this experiment.
("What Is the Purpose of Salt in DNA Extraction?" Reference. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.)
Volume of Each time I manipulate the independent variables to investigate the effect of it on dependent
water variable, the volume of water added to mixture should stay constant. In order to control this variable,
added I will pour the water into a measuring cylinder and make sure it stays the same every time I repeat
(mL) the experiment (20 mL). This might affect the result of the investigation as adding water can either
increase or decrease the quantity of DNA in height extracted; however, it doesnt really affect the
result by a lot.
(Mr Kitwood explained in class)

Materials / Equipment List

Equipment Amount

Detergent 200g

Salt 50g

Ethanol 100mL

100 mL Measuring Cylinder x1

Test Tube x15

Test Tube Rack x1

Funnel x3

100mL Beaker x5

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 Mortar and Pestle x1

Marker x1

Wooden Splint x15

Glass Rod x3

Water bath (60 degrees) x1

Cheesecloth x15

Electronic Balance x1

Strawberries x50

Knife x1

White Tile x1

Dropper x3

Safety Goggles x3

Lab Coat x3

Distilled Water 900mL

Stopwatch x3

Risk Assessment:
Source of hazard Risk Method of prevention

Ethanol 1. The ethanol might 1. Wear safety goggles

go into your eyes.
2. Use droppers to add the ethanol to lower the possibility
2. Explosion can occur of potential explosion.
as ethanol is
flammable.

Detergent 1. Accidentally 1. Keep the detergent away from mouth at all time.
drinking it.
2. Wear lab coat to prevent any unnecessary contact with
2. Irritable to skin. skin and if contacted immediately wash it.

Knife 1. Accidentally cutting 1. Hold the knife and strawberry carefully during the
yourself or others cutting process to ensure you will not injure yourself. In
during the process of addition, do not walk around with the knife at any
cutting the circumstances to avoid injuring others.
strawberries.

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Strawberries 1. Strawberry Allergy 1. Ask classmates before conducting the experiment to
ensure no one has strawberry allergy in the class, if
someone has it, inform teacher and wait for further
instructions.

Beaker/test 1. Accidentally 1.Make sure laboratory equipments which are easy to

tube/glass rod/ breaking it. break are not placed near the edge of the table to avoid
unnecessary accidents; moreover, be careful when
2. Accidentally cutting carrying those equipments around.
yourself with the glass.
2. Put on lab coat and safety goggles at all times to
prevent injury; moreover, when something breaks,
immediately inform the teacher and do not try to clean the
mess by yourself.

Method / Procedure:

1. Put on both the safety goggles and the lab coat.

2. Clear the desk of all other belongings.
3. Prepare necessary equipment and materials to
conduct experiment.
4. Take out three strawberries and place them on the
white tile.
5. Cut of the stem of each of the three strawberries
using the knife.
6. Crush the three strawberries together using the
mortar and pestle (Ensure that there are no lumps
left after crushing).
7. Measure 30g of crushed strawberries using the
electronic balance and pour them into a 100mL
beaker.
8. Measure 20 mL of water using the 100mL
measuring cylinder. (Source 9."Gene Extraction." Isbibbio)
9. Measure 2g of salt using the electronic balance and pour it into a separate 100mL
beaker.
10. Measure 0mL of detergent using the electronic balance and pour it into the same
100mL beaker as the salt is in.
11. Add the 30g of crushed strawberries and the 20 mL of water into the 100mL beaker
containing the salt and detergent.
12. Mix up the mixture by using a glass rod.
13. Label the beaker properly with your name and volume of detergent added for a
record.
14. Place the beaker into the hot water bath (60 degrees)

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 15. Use the stopwatch to time 10 minutes and take the beaker out of the water bath after
10 minutes has passed.
16. Pour the mixture into a test tube by using the funnel and cheesecloth.
17. Measure 5mL of ethanol using a 20mL measuring cylinder
18. Add the 5mL of ethanol into the test tube slowly from the measuring cylinder and
make sure it forms a thin layer on top of the mixture.
19. Measure the length of DNA by using placing a ruler next to the test tube.
20. Record the data down by using a computer and a table.
21. Wash the used beakers, test tubes, filter and cheesecloth for use in later trials.
22. Repeat steps 1-21 two more times.
23. Repeat steps 1-22 four more times using 5mL of detergent instead of 0mL
24. Repeat steps 1-22 four more times using 10mL of detergent instead of 5mL
25. Repeat steps 1-22 four more times using 15mL of detergent instead of 10mL
26. Repeat steps 1-22 four more times using 20mL of detergent instead of 15mL
27. Wash all apparatus used and return them to their respective positions within the
laboratory, as well as clean up the workplace in which the experiment was done in.

Results

Quantity of DNA extracted in height (mm in two decimal places)

Volume of Detergent added Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average

(g)

0 11 18 12 13.67

5 22 25 23 23.33

10 23 3 24 16.67

15 2 27 3 10.67

20 5 26 0 10.33
*Blue is outlier

Explanation of outlier:
As seen in the table above, the data highlighted in blue are the outliers, these data occurred
because of the way weve designed to measure our dependent variable. As said in the
Variables and Method section, the quantity of DNA extracted will be measured with a
ruler when the DNA extracted is still inside the test tube, this have lead to the occurrence of
the outliers sometimes the DNA extracted will all be floating on the top of the test tube,
hence, the height of it will be extremely short; however, the quantity of it in thickness or
length can actually be much longer; therefore, our method is flawed in the aspect of
measuring the data.

Qualitative Observations

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Throughout the process of conducting this experiment, Ive visually
observed various outcomes which have helped me to improve my
knowledge on this investigation. Firstly, Ive observed in every test tube,
the solution is in a reddish orangish color, this is because of the
strawberries added; moreover, there are also a obvious layer of ethanol on
top of it (as shown on the right), there should also be a line of DNA
extracted in the layer of ethanol which we will measure in order to collect
the data.

However, in some cases, the DNA extracted are all stuck at the top of the
test tube (picture on the right), which makes it not measurable for us, this
is also reflected on the Results section, as some of the data recorded
make absolutely no sense, this is because of the reason the line DNA
extracted have broke down, which makes it all of it float on top of the test
tube, hence, affecting the result.

Graph

Conclusion

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Discuss and explain the results:
As mentioned in the Research section, detergent is used to disrupt the bonds which hold
the cell membrane together, which allows the DNA to be extracted. This is somewhat true in
my findings, as seen how the height of DNA increases when the mass of detergent used is
changed from 0g to 5g. However, due to the multiple outliers (explained under table of
results) in the trials with 10g, 15g and 20 g of detergent added, the data I have collected
reflects that the height of the DNA extracted shortens when the mass detergent added exceeds
5g, which shouldnt be the case according to my research.

Refer to the hypothesis:

As reflected in the graph and table of results above, my hypothesis was incorrect. In my
hypothesis Ive stated that as the mass of liquid detergent added increases, the quantity of
DNA extracted in height will also increase; however, this is not the what happened in the
experiment, as shown in the graph, the quantity of DNA in height increased after the mass of
detergent changed from 0 to 5, but after that the quantity of DNA in height started dropping
slowly and eventually result in a data lower than the trial with 0g of detergent added. This is
because that during the trials with 10, 15 and 20 g of detergent added, some of the results of
the 3 trials are data which are outliers, this occurred as in those trials, the DNA extracted did
not form line in the test tube, instead it floats on the top of the test tube, forming a thin layer,
which have dramatically affected the result as were measuring the quantity of DNA in
height, hence, affecting the trend. (Pictures can be found in Qualitative Observations)

Evaluation

By simply looking at the results collected after conducting the experiment, I would say that
our method still has a lot of room of improvement, as there are few sets of data which didnt
really make sense. As said above in the Conclusion section, our groups method is flawed
as weve designed to measure the quantity of DNA extracted in height using a ruler, which
lowers the reliability of the experiment ; moreover, instead of pulling out the DNA extracted
using a glass rod, weve also measured the DNA extracted when it is still inside the test tube,
which have allow the DNA extracted to all float on top of the test tube, leading to the
occurrence of outlying data, hence, affecting the investigation process.

However, our method in some ways are well set up to investigate on the relationship of the
independent variable and dependent variable, this is because in our method, weve included
many process of which the variable is measured and controlled in every different trial of the
experiment, this step have allowed the data collected to properly reflect the effect of the
independent variable on the dependent variable, hence improving the effectiveness of our
method in this experiment.

Evaluation - Suggested Improvements

As said above in the Evaluation section, despite understanding what the proper outcome
of this experiment should be after conducting research online, the result did not reflect
properly the effect of the independent have on the dependent variable, hence, there are still a
lot of room for improvements to be made to this method.

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Firstly, the method can be improved by simply adding few more trials into it; moreover, we
can also alter the independent variable for a few more times, so that the trend shown can be
more obvious and the data can be more reliable.

Secondly, this method can also be improved by simply adding one minor procedure, which is
pulling the DNA extracted out of the test tube with a glass rod, this will enhance the method
of this experiment as pulling the DNA extracted out will allow us to measure the
height/length of it more easily; moreover, it also prevents it from all floating on top of the test
tube, lowering the occurrence chance of outlying data.

Thirdly, this method can also be improved by simply using better equipments for the part of
collecting the data, as were forced to use ruler only to measure the quantity of the DNA
extracted in height, this is because our school are unable to provide equipments which are
able to measure the mass of the DNA extracted (Mr Kitwood explained in class); therefore, to
improve this experiment, we can simply change the way and equipments of measuring the
dependent variable.

Works Cited

1."DNA Extraction | Summary." DNA Extraction | Summary. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb.
2017.

2.Buddies, Science. "Squishy Science: Extract DNA from Smashed Strawberries."

Scientific American. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.

3."How To Extract DNA From Anything Living." How To Extract DNA From
Anything Living. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.

4."What Is the Purpose of Salt in DNA Extraction?" Reference. N.p., n.d. Web. 05
Feb. 2017.

5."What Is the Role of Detergent in DNA Extraction?" Yahoo! Answers. Yahoo!, n.d.
Web. 05 Feb. 2017.

6.Man, Protein. "Work of Salt, Isopropanol and Ethanol in DNA Extraction." Work of
Salt, Isopropanol and Ethanol in DNA Extraction. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.

7."What Is the Purpose of Ethanol in DNA Extraction?" Reference. N.p., n.d. Web. 05
Feb. 2017.

8."What Does Hot Water Do to the Cell during an DNA Extraction?" Yahoo!
Answers. Yahoo!, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.

9."Gene Extraction." Isbibbio - Gene Extraction. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.

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