Each little piece of a living thing, known as a cell, has DNA in it. In humans each of these cells have 2 copies of the DNA, but in strawberries each of these have 8 copies of the DNA (scientists call this
The amount of DNA within a haploid nucleus of cultivated strawberry has been estimated at 708–720 Mb [11].
DNA is present in every cell of plants and animals. The DNA found in strawberry cells can be extracted using common, everyday materials. Strawberries are soft and easy to pulverize. Strawberries have large genomes; they are octoploid, which means they have eight of each type of chromosome in each cell.
Kiwifruit are hexaploid (6 copies) and have 29 individual chromosomes.
Strawberry DNA will look like a stringy white substance since DNA molecules form long chains. As my kids put it, “it looks like snot!” But if you carefully stretch it out you can see more of the details of those strands of DNA.
1. Describe the appearance of the DNA you extracted. The DNA will appear white and will form a clump made of string-like strands that wrap onto the glass rod.
Strawberries are octoploid, meaning that their cells each have eight duplicate copies of each chromosome. This gives the cells a lot of DNA, which means it is easier to extract a large amount of DNA that is visible to the naked eye.
Banana: more than 60 percent identical
Many of the “housekeeping” genes that are necessary for basic cellular function, such as for replicating DNA, controlling the cell cycle, and helping cells divide are shared between many plants (including bananas) and animals.
The modern apple has 17 chromosomes which were found to be derived from an ancestor with 9 chromosomes that experienced genome-wide duplication. The genome sequence also provided proof that Malus sieversii was the wild ancestor of the domestic apple—an issue that had been long-debated in the scientific community.
Pineapple has few chromosomal rearrangements, and has kept 25 of 28 potential chromosomes as expected from two doublings starting from 7 ancestral chromosomes (7×2×2=28).
While the cherry emoji somewhat leans towards the inexperienced (because `cherry' has been a term for `virginity'), strawberry is also used to denote sexual interest. But this one is a bit tricky because strawberry is also a symbol of someone who is promiscuous.
DNA is the polymer of life, storing the information that makes all living things what they are, from us humans to the humble kiwi fruit. It is found in the cells of every living thing, including those kiwi fruit! (If you're curious about the term polymer, you can find out more about polymers here.)
DNA is a short nickname for deoxyribonucleic (say: dee-OK-see-ri-bo-new-klee-ik) acid. DNA is the genetic information inside the body's cells that helps make people who they are. It's the instructions for how to make the body, like the code to a video game or blueprints for a house.
Every living thing has DNA — or deoxyribonucleic acid – which is a blueprint of what makes you a human, your dog an animal or your roses a type of flower. You may be surprised to learn that 60 percent of the DNA present in strawberries is also present in humans.
Our feline friends share 90% of homologous genes with us, with dogs it is 82%, 80% with cows, 69% with rats and 67% with mice [1]. Human and chimpanzee DNA is so similar because the two species are so closely related.
He found it to be salty and slimy after sitting in his mouth for as long as he could stand it. Conclusion: strawberry DNA is best eaten accompanied by the rest of the strawberry.
Only about 1 percent of DNA is made up of protein-coding genes; the other 99 percent is noncoding. Noncoding DNA does not provide instructions for making proteins.
The chart below shows probable (but not necessarily actual) percentages of genes you may have inherited from ancestors going back four generations. At seven generations back, less than 1% of your DNA is likely to have come from any given ancestor.
About 60 percent of our genes have a recognizable counterpart in the banana genome! "Of those 60 percent, the proteins encoded by them are roughly 40 percent identical when we compare the amino acid sequence of the human protein to its equivalent in the banana," Brody adds.
Humans are 99.9% identical on a genetic level. The 0.1% difference is caused by insertions, deletions and substitutions in the DNA sequence. These substitutions are known as Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). They occur about every 1000 base pairs.
More startling is an even newer discovery: we share 99% of our DNA with lettuce. This could have startling philosophical, scientific and medical implications.
All human beings are 99.9 percent identical in their genetic makeup. Differences in the remaining 0.1 percent hold important clues about the causes of diseases.
Commercially grown kiwifruit (genus Actinidia) are generally of two sub-species which have a base haploid genome of 29 chromosomes.
We specifically use fruits like strawberries and bananas because they are octoploid and triploid, respectively. This means that each strawberry cell has eight sets of DNA, and each banana cell has three sets, so there is a lot available for extraction.
Whereas most species, including humans, are diploid with two copies of the genome – one copy from each parent – strawberry is an octoploid, with eight complete copies of the genome that were contributed by multiple, distinct parental species.