Recently I've learned how to extract DNA from vegetables.
When me and my class were in the lab, we were devided into teams.
My team used red sweet pepper/ bell pepper(however you call it).
Every team that used the peppers, got bad results- the DNA came out as red dots instead of white strings.
However, the teams that used onions or cucumbers got perfect white strings(as it should).
I wanted to ask- did it happen for a reason?(are peppers somehow different from other vegetables?) or was there just a problem with the peppers?
DNA extraction
Moderators: AmyCowen, kgudger, MadelineB, Moderators
-
deleted-547689
- Former Expert
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2018 4:51 pm
- Occupation: Teacher
Re: DNA extraction
When you say you got "bad results", is this only because your DNA was red? More importantly, was your red DNA thick and goopy? That is a good measure of whether you have DNA or not. If it was simply a red, goopy mixture I would say your extraction was a success. The red pigment from the pepper may have simply been because the pigment was soluble in your extraction buffer. That is not an indication of no success.
-
deleted-547689
- Former Expert
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2018 4:51 pm
- Occupation: Teacher
Re: DNA extraction
DrJay wrote:When you say you got "bad results", is this only because your DNA was colored? More importantly, was your red DNA thick and goopy? That is a good measure of whether you have DNA or not. If it was simply a colored, goopy mixture I would say your extraction was a success. The red pigment from the pepper may have simply been because the pigment was soluble in your extraction buffer. That is not an indication of no success.
-
deleted-751572
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2019 5:37 am
- Occupation: Student
Re: DNA extraction
Thanks for replying!DrJay wrote:When you say you got "bad results", is this only because your DNA was red? More importantly, was your red DNA thick and goopy? That is a good measure of whether you have DNA or not. If it was simply a red, goopy mixture I would say your extraction was a success. The red pigment from the pepper may have simply been because the pigment was soluble in your extraction buffer. That is not an indication of no success.
I understand about the pigment but there was another difference-
The bell pepper's DNA came out as little dots while the onion's and the cucumber's came out as long strings.
I wanted ask- did it actually happen for a scientific reason or was there just a problem with the experiment?

