ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Protein tag

Imagine you have a bunch of toys in your toy box. Each toy is different and has its own name, but they all belong in the toy box together. Proteins in your body are kind of like toys in your toy box. They have different names and jobs, but they all work together to keep your body healthy.

Sometimes scientists want to study just one specific protein in a cell. But it's really hard to find one particular protein in a big pool of different proteins. That's where protein tags come in!

Protein tags are like little stickers that scientists can attach to one specific protein in a cell. This makes it easier for them to find and study that protein. It's like putting a big red sticker on your favorite toy in your toy box so you can easily find it again later.

There are lots of different types of protein tags. Some are fluorescent, which means they light up under special lights. Others are magnetic, which means scientists can use a special magnet to pull out just that one protein from the rest of the mix.

So, protein tags are kind of like stickers that scientists use to find and study one specific protein in a big group of different proteins inside a cell.