Hi, I saw this type of experiment on the net, and I don't get a few points. I'm talking about the experiment where you lyse a sample (peas, meat, etc) with a blender, then add detergent and salty water, and finally add alcohol to the mix to precipitate the DNA.
What I don't quite get about this experiment is how can alcohol (ethanol) and water form two phases, since ethanol is soluble in water. I think maybe is because the water molecules are solvating the salt and the detergent. Also, in the case of plant cells, I'm not really sure how can detergent break the cell walls. Last, how can salt help precipitate DNA? I know that DNA is negatively charged, it occurs to me that it has a higher affinity to Na+ ions than Cl-.