Science at Play: Drawing with DNA

Our Strawberry DNA Science at Play was so popular we wanted to give an extension of that activity. Now that you have extracted all of that strawberry DNA, let’s draw with it!

Materials to Collect

• DNA (from strawberry DNA extraction activity)
• Paper clip or small spoon
• Water-based ink or food coloring
• Teaspoon or a pipette
• Water-based paint
• Empty dauber bottle or small container to mix DNA with ink/paint and a cotton swab to draw
• Paper

Try it Out

Preparation

• Obtain DNA from a DNA extraction activity. This Science At Play will show you how to extract the DNA from strawberries. 

Procedure

1. Take a paper clip and straighten it out to create a DNA fishing hook! 
2. Use the paper clip hook or a small spoon to transfer your extracted DNA into an empty dauber bottle or any small sealable container.
3. Add a small amount of ink or food coloring to the bottle/container holding the DNA. A little goes a long way here! I used 5 drops of blue ink and 5 drops of pink ink. 
4. Add 1-2 teaspoons or pipette-fuls of water-based paint to your DNA/ink mixture. This amount will depend on how much ink you use. If you use more ink, you will need more paint to keep the mixture from being too watery. I used 2 pipettes or about 1 teaspoon of paint to make my “DNA Marker.”
5. Place the top on the dauber bottle, or the lid on your container. 
6. Shake the mixture vigorously for 1 minute, or until the DNA dissolves. Don’t worry if not all of the DNA dissolves into the ink – you will still have plenty of DNA inside your marker!
7. Use the tip of the dauber bottle or a cotton swab to apply your DNA ink to a piece of paper.
8. Draw with DNA! If your “marker” begins to run out of ink, just add more coloring and paint. 

What is the Science? 

Every living thing, or anything that was once living, has DNA. DNA is our instruction book, or the blueprint our body uses to build us. Just like our DNA is what makes us people, DNA is also what makes a strawberry, a strawberry. At the end of any DNA extraction you are left with a glob of DNA. Scientists can use a DNA sequencer or other tools to run tests on the DNA. You can use your extracted DNA to make art. Mix the DNA you’ve collected with water-based ink and paints to draw.

• Strawberries – Strawberries are excellent for DNA extractions because they are octoploid.  That means strawberries have 8 sets of their DNA.
• Water-based ink – Water-based ink or food coloring will allow the DNA to dissolve (break up) in the liquid. This creates a mixture of DNA and ink to make a colorful liquid. DNA precipitates (clumps together) in alcohol, which is why it is used to extract DNA. However, it will keep the DNA clumped together in the ink, rather than dissolved.
• Water-based paint – Paint is used to thicken the DNA/ink solution. The thicker solution will be easier to draw with and will dry faster.

 Ask Your Young Scientists

• What would happen if we mixed our glob of DNA with different types of inks, paints, or dyes? Alcohol-based? Oil-based?
• Did the DNA disappear once it was mixed with ink and paint? Could we get our DNA glob back?

More to Explore

• Use this procedure with extracted DNA from other foods, like bananas, or oatmeal. How do you think the different DNA will affect your marker?
• Create your own recipe for a DNA marker. Feel free to try different inks and adjust the amount of each ingredient you add.
• Other fun resources to explore all things DNA:
  • https://www.genome.gov/About-Genomics/Educational-Resources
  • https://www.genome.gov/dna-day/about
  • https://genetics.thetech.org/

This activity was adapted from Stanford at The Tech’s Drawing with DNA program.