2nd annual Texas Baby & Kidz Expo on Jan. 24, 2016

Among the activities available to the public at the 2nd annual Texas Baby & Kidz Expo on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, visitors can spin The Health Museum Wellness Wheel or learn about fun science experiments that families can conduct in their homes.

During a visit to FOX 26 Morning News, Adam Benjamin, education director at The Health Museum, with help from anchor Jose Grinan, demonstrates how to extract DNA from strawberries and comparing it to DNA from bananas and kiwis. The experiment also helps parents promote healthier eating habits.

Once you have your experiment supplies, you follow the instructions below:

  1. Cut-up one or two semi-frozen strawberries
  2. Place fruit in zippered plastic bag and move it to one corner of bag; gently mash/mix with your palm
  3. Add equal amount of chilled water to the amount of strawberry in the bag (likely 5-10 ml)
  4. Blend water and strawberry mixture in zippered plastic bag
  5. Add a dash of salt in zippered plastic bag and mix further
  6. Add a dash of shampoo in zippered plastic bag and mix gently
  7. Pour mixture through mesh strainer held over a cup, beaker or bowl to separate liquid from pulp
  8. Discard the pulp
  9. Take extracted liquid and add equal amount of chilled ethyl alcohol to liquid mixture (likely 5-10 ml)
  10. DNA WILL IMMEDIATE BEGIN SEPARATING FROM THE LIQUID