What is the purpose of ethanol in a DNA extraction experiment?

Question

We were doing a lab experiment in biology class in which we extracted DNA from a banana-detergent solution mixture.(The detergent solution was made of 100ml of detergent, 90ml of water, and 5g of salt.) We then added ethanol to the mixture. I know detergent breaks down the lipids in cells and salt takes away the moisture from cells but how does ethanol affect cells?

Answer 1

Ethanol is uses in experiments to precipitate DNA out of the solution. There is a link to an article covering this in the comments section. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Answer 2

Ethanol does not affect the cells; it affects the DNA molecules of the cells. With its lower dielectric constant and ability to hydrogen bond with water molecules, which decreases the hydrogen bonding available for DNA, the ethanol forces the DNA to aggregate with the sodium ions and precipitate out of the solution.