ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Acid guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction

Okay kiddo, let me explain what acid guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction is.

Sometimes scientists want to study things like DNA or RNA that are inside cells. But cells have a lot of other stuff in them too, like proteins and fats. So, scientists need to find a way to get rid of all that extra stuff and just keep the DNA or RNA.

That's where the acid guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction method comes in. It's like a special recipe that scientists use to separate out the DNA or RNA from everything else in the cell.

First, they take the cells and put them in a solution with a chemical called guanidinium thiocyanate. This makes the cells open up and release all their contents.

Then, they add phenol—a chemical that can dissolve fats and proteins—into the solution. The phenol grabs onto all those extra things and separates them from the DNA or RNA.

But there's still some stuff left in the solution that needs to be removed. That's where chloroform comes in. Chloroform is another chemical that can selectively remove certain molecules from a mixture. In this case, it removes any remaining lipids or fatty acids.

Finally, scientists can get the purified DNA or RNA out of the solution and use it for their research.

So basically, acid guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction is a way to get rid of all the extra stuff in cells so scientists can study just the DNA or RNA. It's like a recipe that uses special chemicals to separate out the good stuff from the bad stuff.