species in the polymer kingdom have backbones that can be modified by skeletal editing

An example of the use of extended metaphor in science journalism

"For chemical species in the polymer kingdom, the backbone is their key defining feature. From naming and classification to properties and function, the backbone is central to what makes a polycarbonate a polycarbonate, a polyamide a polyamide, and a polyether a polyether.

A polymer's backbone is the linear string of atoms, arranged in a regular repeating pattern, that forms the core of each polymer chain….

'Polymer backbone editing is an emerging area with a lot of potential to have a big impact,' says Karen Wooley from Texas A&M University in the US. 'People are getting excited about it, bringing in new ideas and it's now just at the precipice, ready to take off and really fly.'…'I love this idea of "Can we later come in and do further backbone modification and skeletal editing?"' Wooley says. 'I think there's a lot of creativity that can be exerted here.' "

James Mitchell Crow (2024) Editing polymer backbones, Chemistry World, February 2024.

Referring to the longest ('core') chain of atoms within a polymer structure as a backbone can be considered an example of metaphor. Here the different types of polymers are considered species (which of itself need not refer to living things) within a kingdom (akin to the kingdoms of animals, fungi, plants, prokaryotes and protists that each have many species of living things).

Skeletal refers to a skeleton, so, arguably (if pedantically), if backbone editing refers to modifications of the longest chain of atoms it should not be seen as synonymous with skeletal editing as that should (by analogy with creatures that have backbones) refer to any modifications in atomic ordering (as the skeleton is not just the backbone in a vertebrate).