How To Make Model DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a strange and amazing thing. It carries genes and genetic codes, is so small you have thousands of copies of it, and is made up of a bunch of different parts. With this fun experiment you can make a larger and much more edible version of DNA. To start, you will need two ropes of licorice in your favorite flavor and four different colors of marshmallows. Pick one marshmallow color for cytosine, one for guanine, and so forth for adenine and thymine. You will also need a box of toothpicks. Lay your materials out on a sheet or two of clean paper towel.

Make piles of marshmallows, with your colors for guanine with cytosine in one, and your colors for adenine and thymine in another. Stick one color on one end of the toothpick and its pair on the other. I made ten of these barbell shaped "ladder rungs", with five of each pair. With your licorice sticks carefully aligned, push each marshmallow about 1/4 inch (5 mm.) down the toothpick, toward the center. Stick the toothpick into one end of your licorice stick. Push the other licorice stick onto the other end of the toothpick. Continue this method until you've placed the last marshmallow rung.

When you're finished, twist your licorice ladder into a double helix shape.

The finished dna will look like this.

If you want your DNA strand to be longer, make another one. I made one to share with Dude.

This edible DNA ladder might not last as long as the real stuff, so be sure to eat it in a day or two. It will start to get hard after that.

Your DNA is finished! I made my model based off the one in the Curious Jane book I got from a library.

Baby Girl