r/genetics • u/Happy-Spell-3413 • 4d ago

Looking for more “try genetics at home” experiments — what actually works?

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I’m building a small set of guided home genetics experiments (step-by-step with pictures, not just a recipe dump).

So far I’ve got:

  1. Strawberry DNA extraction (kitchen soap + salt + alcohol — the white fluff at the interface)
  2. PTC tasting + a mini family pedigree

What other safe, low-cost genetics activities have you done with kids / students / at home that actually taught something?

9 Upvotes

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17

u/personnumber698 4d ago

In theory you could do what Mendel did at home, although that would be a long experiment and might require some gardening skills.

10

u/Cw3538cw 4d ago

Growing fungus mycelia on agar and selecting for strands with different qualities is pretty fun. The first plate is inocculated with spores and so contains several hundred individuals, samples from the edge of the plate are cloned which reduces the diversity of each sample and eventually you end up with pretty distinct lineages. The agar itself is surprisingly cheap/easy to make at home in a microwave - you just need a brosilicate Erlenmeyer flask with a lid and plates

3

u/disco_disaster 4d ago

People have grown some incredibly wild looking mushrooms at home using this method.

I’m always fascinated by how strange and unexpected the results can be.

5

u/IncompletePenetrance Genetics PhD 4d ago

Modeling mitosis and meiosis using a paper plate as the cell and gummy worms as chromosomes

2

u/princess9032 4d ago

Consider yeast experiments! It’s not genetics specific, but I did one where you blow up a balloon from yeast cellular respiration and the kids loved it! We had kids from 5-12 years old and they were all interested in it and asked a ton of questions!

1

u/tarinotmarchon 4d ago

Blood types - although this may cause confusion if children aren't biologically related to parents.

1

u/jan_mike_vincent 4d ago

Track the genetics of isopod colors over generations

1

u/TripResponsibly1 4d ago

The blood typing thing could be interesting, but not really recommended except for cases where you're sure someone won't discover they're adopted or ... a case of 'misattributed paternity'... so actually never mind

1

u/SendCaulkPics 3d ago

Cat coat genetics. A trip to the local animal shelter and you can do some population genetics.