In Year 11 Science, students extracted DNA from their cheek cells. They did this by swishing salt-water in their mouths for a couple of minutes before spitting in a cup, mixing it with a drop of dish soap to break up the nuclear membranes (to expose the DNA), and then adding ethanol alcohol to isolate the DNA in a layer between the high-density salty-spit and the low-density alcohol. Students then used a toothpick to pull out the long thin strands of their very own DNA to view it for themselves from up close.
