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Making
a Candy Model of DNA
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Purpose:
You will be able to see and feel what an actual
DNA strand really looks like. To learn how the nucleotides
are formed, and how it all fits together. This model
can be used to show replication, splicing, and other
functions involving the DNA double helix.
Supplies:
licorice sticks or ropes, red and black
gumdrops, jelly beans, or marshmallows in 4 colors
toothpicks
fishing line or string
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Assign each base to a color, as
blue/adenine, green/cytosine, etc. Use these colors
of small candies to represent bases. Connect pairs
of bases with toothpicks, pairing only those bases
that are paired in DNA.
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Cut small pieces of licorice and
string them together, alternating colors. Connect
the pairs of candy to the strands of licorice, using
the ends of toothpicks to connect them. Continue
connecting until you have the desired length.
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Twist, and you have a DNA model!
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Results,
Questions:
1. What do the small candies represent? (bases)
2. What do the toothpicks represent? (hydrogen
bonds holding bases together)
3. What do the licorice pieces represent? (alternating
sugar and phosphate molecules)
Applications:
1. Use the model to show replication, splicing,
and other DNA functions. Be able to explain the
steps as you go. You may need to break the toothpicks
to separate the strands.
Experiment from Access Excellennce
- GENETECH
http://www.gene.com/ae/atg/released/0185-EllenMayo/description.html
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