ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Suspension array technology

Imagine you are playing with different colored balls, and you want to know which ones are the same and which ones are different.

Now imagine scientists want to do the same thing, but instead of balls, they want to know which tiny molecules are present in a sample of blood, saliva or other fluids in your body.

To do this, they use a technology called suspension array. This technology is like a special lab game, where the scientists mix the tiny molecules in a liquid and add special colorful beads that each have a unique color code.

The beads are like the different colored balls you were playing with, but in this case, each bead has a different color code that matches a specific type of molecule the scientists are looking for.

The scientists use a device called a flow cytometer, which is like a magical machine that can read the color code on each bead and sort them based on their unique code.

Once the beads are sorted, the scientists know which molecules are present in the sample and how much of each molecule is there. This is very important for understanding diseases and how they affect the body.

Overall, suspension array technology is like a fun lab game that helps scientists figure out which molecules are present in a sample and how they are related to different diseases.