An example of an analogy used in popular science writing:
"There are drugs that interfere with the way in which the spindle apparatus pulls the replicated chromosomes to opposite ends of the cells. The spindle apparatus is formed by the coming together of a large number of proteins, and these only combine at the time when a cell is ready to pull the chromosomes apart. A drug called paclitaxel works by making the spindle apparatus too stable so that the complex of proteins can't disaggregate.
We can visualise why this is a bad thing for a cell by comparing the scenario with one of those fire engines that carries an extending ladder. It's great that the ladder can be extended to rescue people from upper storeys of a burning building. But if the fire crew can't get the ladder folded back down again after the emergency and have to drive around with it fully extended, it won't be long before they have a pretty serious accident. The same happens in the cells treated with paclitaxel. Systems in the cell recognise that the spindle apparatus hadn't been deactivated properly, and this triggers destruction of the cell."
Nessa Carey (2015) Junk DNA. A journey through the dark matter of the genome. London: Icon Books Ltd.
Read examples of scientific analogies
Many examples of science analogies are listed in 'Creative comparisons: Making science familiar through language. An illustrative catalogue of figurative comparisons and analogies for science concepts'. Free Download.
{paclitaxel is an anticancer agent produced naturally by fungi that are symbionts of some trees}
