Off-target activity

Okay, so imagine you are playing a game where you have to hit a target with a ball. The target is the thing you are supposed to hit, and when you hit it, you get points or a prize. But sometimes, when you throw the ball, it doesn't hit the target. Maybe it hits a tree or a person or a window instead. That's called "off-target" because you didn't hit what you were supposed to.

In science, when researchers are testing new medicines or chemicals, they also have a target they are trying to hit. They want the medicine or chemical to do a specific thing in the body, like fight a disease or kill harmful cells. But sometimes, the medicine or chemical can also do other things that the researchers didn't want it to do. It might still affect the body, but in a way that wasn't planned or expected. This is called "off-target activity." It's like throwing the ball and hitting something else instead of the target.

Scientists try to be very careful when they are testing new medicines or chemicals. They do lots of experiments to make sure they are hitting the target they want and not doing anything else that could be harmful. But sometimes, off-target activity can happen anyway, and that's why researchers always have to keep testing and studying to make sure everything is safe and effective.