he large, colorful, attractively designed box that holds this scientific toy features a hinged panel that lifts tantalizingly to reveal in words and pictures some of the delights awaiting within. "Explore the building blocks of life!" "Extract and see real plant DNA!" "Includes a REAL centrifuge!" Portraits of Nobelists James Watson and Francis Crick, the conceptualizers of DNA, beam out at the prospective young scientist. It's an alluring invitation, and, happily, it's pretty much borne out by the contents and the experiences they provide.
The very first thing to do upon opening this Ultimate Lab—which is one of over a dozen similar scientific toys in the Discovery Channel line depicted on an enclosed leaflet, a leaflet that also bears a $5 coupon toward the purchase of another toy—is to find the mail-in card for procuring three DNA samples essential to one of the main experiments. Delivery will take two to three weeks. Next up is the inescapable purchase of four D batteries and three nine-volt ones. Afterward, find the large 27-page manual and open to page two, a list and depiction of the contents. Then, take a minute to familiarize yourself with the 40 pieces of equipment carefully packed in styrofoam and cardboard. There are beakers and test tubes; vials and bottles and packages of raw materials; safety glasses and hand tools such as pipettes and tweezers. But most impressive are the two main instruments: a heavy motorized base that powers either a mixer or a centrifuge; and an electrophoresis chamber, billed as the first such device created specifically for kids. Page four reveals a list of 11 items—distilled water, iodine and such—which the user will have to provide for him- or herself.
With all the contents arrayed in the accompanying base station as described, batteries installed and extra ingredients procured, the user is ready to go through 10 experiments. These experiments demand anywhere from 10 minutes to two weeks of the user's time. The first investigation extracts plant DNA from crushed peas. The second uses the mail-order DNA samples in an electrophoresis run. Number three, the simplest, demonstrates the polarity of water. Chromatography gets a workout in number four, while numbers five and six investigate the way lipids work. Proteins are examined in number seven, while number eight demonstrates the body's need for iron. The final two trials examine the issue of molecular density and the nature of mineral formation.
The cutting edge is now child's play
This hands-on kit—attractively styled midway between toy and professional lab equipment—harks back to the golden era of DIY chemistry and electronics sets, before parental concerns about "danger" clamped down on budding scientists. Not that there's anything dangerous in DNA Explorer. Quite to the contrary, the toy's directions meticulously outline safety measures and when to solicit adult help (such as when using the microwave in experiment two, which most kids no doubt do on their own generally). One could probably swallow all the contents of the lab and not suffer anything more than a sore stomach from the dried peas! Rather, it's the chance to mix and measure, spin samples and chart results, and veer from the instructions creatively that recall the wonders of those nostalgic Gilbert chemistry sets.
The uncredited writers for the booklet have adopted a tone that is neither too highfalutin nor too condescending. They speak clearly and concisely about the scientific issues at hand. There's an attempt to relate these experiments to such sexy issues as crime forensics, but on the whole, the joy of discovery for its own sake is emphasized. Sidebars that offer background information or alternative trials are numerous. The steps in each procedure are quite clear, but I recommend that you read the procedures all the way through once or twice before beginning. It's no fun having both hands full and then finding out you've got to uncap a new bottle you hadn't noticed was required—which happened to me in experiment nine.
Experiment three, which involves only running some tap water in a glass, is kind of lame. And experiment 10, the growing of stalagmites, is rather peripheral to the whole DNA quest. But these are good to fill time during some of the waiting involved in the more complex trials, which will really test the skills of youngsters from, say, 10 years old and up. And the excitement of creating a gelatin bed for electrophoresis or using a whirring magnetic capsule to break up cell walls more than makes up for the tamer lessons.
It should be noted that many of the materials supplied are exhausted after one run of each experiment. It will be an extra expense on top of the initial purchase cost to run these experiments over and over again.
