Cocktail, Denatured

My inner geek was sparked when I witnessed DNA being extracted from a strawberry at a recent DIYbio meeting in New York. The whole process was carried out in a shotglass and resulted in what looked like it could a pretty pink drink served up at a bar.

The experiment was done with strawberries, dish detergent, water, and rubbing alchohol. Once the strawberry was reduced to a juicy pulp in a glass, a drop or two of dish detergent was mixed in to help break down cell walls. A little water was mixed in, and then alcohol carefully poured down the side of the glass so that it floated above the strawberry pulp. The strawberry DNA released by the mashing and the detergent slowly rose out of the pulp and susepnded between the pink mush and the alcohol.



The little glass looks pretty cool with a little cloud of DNA floating in the middle and since the rubbing alcohol can be replaced with high grade vodka, the party potential of strawberry DNA extraction is pretty high.

The only problem is the dish detergent. Since there is only a tiny drop, it shouldn't cause major discomfort, but the taste of Dawn might not enhance the party experience. Until we find a substitute for dish detergent stick to layered drinks like this one found in Gourmet magazine.