ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Krogh's principle

Okay, kiddo, here's a simple way to understand Krogh's Principle:

Have you ever played the game "hunt for treasure"? When you play this game, you look for clues that will help you find the ultimate treasure. But sometimes, the clues are hidden in hard-to-reach places, like behind a big rock or in a deep hole.

In biology, scientists also play the "hunt for treasure" game. They're trying to find out specific things about how the body works, like how our blood vessels get oxygen to all the organs, or how our muscles use energy. But sometimes, the clues they need to solve these puzzles are hidden in hard-to-reach places, like tiny blood vessels or deep inside cells.

That's where Krogh's Principle comes in! August Krogh was a scientist who realized that in order to solve these biological puzzles, scientists needed to study the whole organism, including all its systems and organs. Just like in the "hunt for treasure" game, sometimes the only way to find the missing clues is to look in all the nooks and crannies, even if they seem hard to reach.

So, Krogh's Principle basically means that in order to understand a specific biological process or system, scientists need to study it in the context of the whole organism. That way, they can find all the hidden clues they need to solve the biological puzzle they're working on. Cool, right?