... find an answer anywhere on the internet - so I am asking the experts! I am asking this question on behalf of my son who is in 4th grade and he did a science experiment where he extracted DNA from a variety of fruits when they were unripe and when they were very ripe. With the ripe banana DNA it was amazing - so clumpy it stuck to the sides of the test tube and he was able to scoop it out with a fork. For the unripe/green banana, it seemed that the same amount of DNA was extracted and it seemed to gather together the same, however, it was thinner and when he tried to scoop it out of the test tube it just fell through the fork. We are wondering why the DNA of the unripe banana was so much thinner and why the DNA of the ripe banana was thick and clumpy? What's the difference? On a side note - strawberry and kiwi DNA looked exactly the same between ripe and unripe fruit. With this experiment he won at his class level and is competing at the school level next week. Wish him luck!! Mom