After extracting our own DNA from our cheek cells yesterday, we performed a lab technique that makes thousands of copies of part of our genome (Polymerase Chain Reaction, or PCR) in order to have enough DNA to analyze. Today, we used special “molecular scissors” to cut the DNA copies into fragments and then separated them out using a technique called gel electrophoresis. Overnight, our gels with our separated DNA fragments will be stained, and we’ll check them out tomorrow, to identify our own genes (DNA) for a particular trait (in this case, the ability to taste a bitter chemical or not).
