To a science teacher, an account of Miescher's methods makes fascinating reading, not least because of the crude techniques available and the striking resemblance they bear to many of today's classroom protocols. Compared with Miescher, however, today's teachers have an easy time. With no refrigeration, Miescher had to start work at 5 a.m. to ensure that the reagents were cold enough to precipitate DNA, and he had to prepare his own protease enzymes from the stomachs of freshly slaughtered pigs (Judson, 1996).