Why would scientists want to extract DNA out of a plant cell?

1 Answer
Oct 7, 2015

Extracting the DNA from a plant cell allows us to study the genetics of that plant even further...

Explanation:

This is something I do on a regular basis, actually! Extracting the DNA from a plant is the first step in a lot of genetic studies we can do. For example, we can find out if the plant has any interesting (useful or harmful) mutations in any of its genes, which might make it better (or worse) -suited to grow in certain conditions. Sometimes, if we want to know how closely related two plant species are, we can get clues from differences in their DNA.

In other cases, we might want to make a copy of an important gene in one plant (such as one that gives the plant resistance to certain insects) and insert it into the genetic sequence of another plant, conferring that resistance along with it.

There are a lot of reasons why we might want to extract DNA from a plant cell... these are only a few!