Make Your Own Mucus and Extracting DNA

Produced by Nowgen, with support from the Wellcome Trust, these resources illustrate two practical activities. One explains how to make 'artificial mucus' and relates it to the mucus produced in the lungs by individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF). The second is an activity sheet with instructions on how to extract DNA from cheek cells and kiwi fruit.

[b]Make your own mucus[/b]
In the video clip, Dr Cerri Harrop shows Caitlin, a cystic fibrosis sufferer, how to make artificial mucus. This helps to illustrate the nature of the excessive mucus produced by CF sufferers. They discus the content of the mucus, how mucus in the lungs normally helps to protect from infection and how the thick mucus in CF can have a harmful effect.

There is also an accompanying instruction sheet with the recipe for the mucus.

[b]Extracting DNA[/b]
A second activity describes a simple method for extracting DNA from a mouthwash containing cheek cells, or using kiwi fruit as a source of tissue.