Who We Are
What We Did
Partially digested marine life was extracted from the stomach of caught Lion Fish. We were trying to pinpoint what exact species the Lion Fish were eating. We took the unidentified marine species and cut small amounts from it. We placed those pieces into tubes then proceeded to drop in small amount of fluid that “stripped” the pieces through a filter leaving only its DNA behind. We then took that “cleaned” DNA and put in another solution that allowed the DNA to move through the filter to the bottom of the tubes during a spin cycle in the machine dubbed “Michelle Kwan- Quadruple Lutz”. The DNA spins very quickly and must be perfectly balanced in this machine which explains the silly name. The photo with the little black dots at the bottom of the tubes is the finished product of “clean” and spun DNA.
What We Learned
A small piece of animal can be put through chemicals leaving strictly their DNA behind. That DNA can tell us pretty much everything we need to know about that animal and it’s only a miniscule amount.
Questions We Have
How can such a fraction of amount of liquid tell such a large amount?
Connections to Teaching
DNA is such an important part of our world. It can tell us so much with just a tiny amount.