DNA, three little letters that hold such power over every living thing. DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, holds the codes which are the building blocks that create the proteins for making each living thing and their specific structure within a species. It gives each one traits, even though we may or may not see them, which produces a unique organism. Think of your own traits. People can see your eye color, or that you have curly hair, but they don’t see your blood type, or that you may be allergic to peanuts. Your DNA carries all the messages needed to make you unique and the same is true for plants such as corn.
Corn, while it seems like a simple plant, is very complex. It has a much more complicated genome, which is the complete set of chromosomes of an organism, than one might expect. Corn has 2 billion base pairs making it one of the most difficult plants to decode. The base pairs, adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine make up the genetic sequence which determines the specific traits of each kernel of corn. These traits provide information for plant height, kernel color, and shape of the kernel.
In recent years, due to the understanding of the corn genome, research has allowed scientists to alter the genetic codes to increase corn’s resistance to certain diseases and drought which enables farmers to produce more corn to meet the growing population in our world.
This activity will allow you to look at DNA. Keep in mind that DNA is located inside of the nucleus of each cell and in order for you to get it out of the cell you will need to add a few products to the cells to break down both the nuclear and cell membranes.
The process you will use will allow you to look at your own DNA, however, many other things can be used as well. Provided at the end of this activity in the resources section is a link to an activity that uses corn. Try both if you have time.
This lesson is the work product of the Kansas Corn Commission. Our lessons are written in collaboration with Kansas teachers for use in the classroom. Teachers may copy and share this curriculum. Use of this product for commercial or promotional use is prohibited without express permission of Kansas Corn.
As the need to produce more food with less resources grows, it is important that future generations have a better understanding of agriculture and how corn farming and agriculture fit into our daily lives. That’s why the Kansas Corn STEM program provides lessons to teach science through the lens of corn. We are committed to providing free materials and training to support educators.
