The process of extraction is simple. You lyse the cells in your cheeks and degrade the protein with protease (a salty mixture). Pour the now cell-adulterated mixture into a test tube and invert it a few times. Baby-it by warming the tube with your hand for a few minutes, which breaks down proteins. Add ethanol to the mixture and sit still for 5 minutes. Your DNA will begin to precipitate. Inverting the tube again will help DNA blobs get together. You can then use a pipette to suck your white gooey out.
So how does it taste anyways?
Insipid but on the side of salty. Vaguely sharp. I felt a bit shy putting it in my mouth publicly. So I found a quiet spot where no one was looking, extracted some gooey with a pipette and put the stuff in my mouth. It was slippery and moved around and disappeared before I knew it.
More than the taste, it was screwy to think that my DNA - genetic instructions passed down to me by who-knows-who from eons ago were sucked out and put back in. And where did it finally go, I wonder? My gut of course.
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Here's a wonderful document on how to extract your DNA. You can buy a Genes in a Bottle kit here and play with your kid or yourself. Just don't leave the stuff lying around...unless you'd love to see a Mini-Me somewhere in the future. Of course, you can put it in your mouth.
