FoldLens Junior

For teachers

Every entry below carries an NGSS performance-expectation tag (MS-LS1-2, MS-LS1-3, MS-LS1-7, MS-LS3-1, MS-LS3-2) and a curated, peer-reviewable explanation. Teacher mode adds reflection prompts and iCloud-synced bookmarks — bookmarks only, never student data.

Privacy posture for kids and schools →

For platforms

Each protein has a canonical share URL at /junior/p/<slug> and a standard OEmbed endpoint. Drop a card into any LabXchange, WordPress, or Discourse page — discovery via <link rel="alternate"> or query at /junior/oembed?url=…&format=json.

The 50 starter proteins

• InsulinInsulin tells your body to use sugar after you eat. Without it, sugar piles up in your blood.
• Hemoglobin (alpha)Hemoglobin is the red stuff in your blood that grabs oxygen from your lungs and drops it off in your body.
• Hemoglobin (beta)This piece pairs with alpha to make full hemoglobin. One tiny gene change in beta causes sickle cell disease.
• Green Fluorescent ProteinThis protein glows bright green under blue light. Scientists glue it to other proteins to watch them work inside cells.
• Alpha-amylaseThis enzyme in your spit chops starch into sugar. That is why bread starts to taste sweet if you chew it for a while.
• Antibody (IgG)Antibodies are Y-shaped grabbers your blood makes to catch germs. They lock onto a germ and flag it for the cleanup team.
• MyoglobinMyoglobin sits in muscle and holds onto oxygen until your muscle needs a burst. It is why steak is red.
• CollagenCollagen is the rope that holds your skin, tendons, and bones together. It is the most common protein in your body.
• KeratinKeratin builds your hair, fingernails, and the top layer of your skin. It is tough because its chains stack tightly.
• ActinActin links into long cables inside muscle cells. When myosin pulls on those cables, your muscle squeezes shorter.
• MyosinMyosin is a tiny motor inside muscle. It uses fuel called ATP to walk along actin cables and pull them tight.
• TrypsinTrypsin lives in your small intestine. It snips proteins from food into smaller chunks your gut can use.
• PepsinPepsin works in your stomach where the acid is strong. It starts breaking down protein in food right away.
• LactaseLactase splits the sugar in milk into smaller pieces. Many people stop making it after childhood and feel sick from milk.
• CatalaseYour cells make a chemical called hydrogen peroxide that can hurt them. Catalase chops it into water and oxygen, fast.
• LysozymeLysozyme is in your tears, spit, and snot. It pops open the walls of bacteria before they can make you sick.
• Serum albuminAlbumin floats in your blood and carries hitchhikers like fats and medicines around your body.
• FerritinFerritin is a hollow ball that stores iron safely inside your cells until your body needs it.
• CaseinCasein is the main protein in cow milk. It clumps into little balls that give milk its white color.
• OvalbuminOvalbumin is the main protein in an egg white. When you cook an egg, its shape changes and it turns from clear to white.
• Cytochrome cCytochrome c hands off electrons inside the parts of your cell that make energy. No cytochrome c, no usable energy.
• ATP synthaseATP synthase is a real spinning motor inside your cells. Each spin builds a new pellet of ATP fuel.
• TubulinTubulin snaps together into long hollow tubes. Those tubes are the rails your cell uses to move things around.
• p53p53 watches DNA for damage. If it finds too much, it tells the cell to stop dividing — or to self-destruct.
• DNA polymeraseDNA polymerase copies your DNA before a cell splits. It also checks its own work and fixes mistakes.
• RNA polymerase IIThis protein reads a gene in your DNA and writes a matching RNA copy. The cell uses that copy to build a protein.
• Histone H3Histones are spools that DNA wraps around. Without them, your DNA would not fit inside the cell.
• Ribosomal protein S6A ribosome is a tiny factory that builds proteins. S6 is one bolt that holds the factory together.
• CRISPR Cas9Cas9 is a scissors protein that bacteria use against viruses. Scientists turned it into a tool to edit DNA on purpose.
• SARS-CoV-2 spikeThe spike is the crown on the coronavirus. It locks onto a protein on your cells so the virus can sneak in.
• ACE2ACE2 sits on the outside of your cells and helps control blood pressure. It is also what the COVID spike grabs.
• RhodopsinRhodopsin lives in the back of your eye. When light hits it, it bends, and that bend tells your brain you saw something.
• Aquaporin-1Aquaporins are water channels in your cell wall. They let water rush in and out without letting salt or sugar through.
• Dopamine D2 receptorThis protein catches a brain signal called dopamine. The signal matters for movement and reward.
• AcetylcholinesteraseYour nerves send a signal called acetylcholine to your muscles. This enzyme chops it back up so the signal turns off.
• HexokinaseHexokinase is the first step when your cell burns sugar for energy. It tags glucose so it cannot escape the cell.
• GLUT4 (glucose transporter)GLUT4 is a sugar door on your muscle and fat cells. Insulin tells it to open after you eat.
• Sodium-potassium pumpThis pump uses fuel to push sodium out of your cell and pull potassium in. Your nerves and muscles need this gap to work.
• CFTRCFTR is a salt channel on lung and gut cells. A broken CFTR causes cystic fibrosis, a lung and digestion disease.
• TyrosinaseTyrosinase makes the brown pigment in your skin, hair, and eyes. Different gene versions make different amounts.
• LactoferrinLactoferrin in milk and tears grabs iron away from germs. Germs need iron to grow, so this slows them down.
• Beta-lactoglobulinThis is the main whey protein in cow milk. It is one of the proteins that some people are allergic to.
• Silk fibroinSilkworms spin their cocoon out of fibroin. It packs into tight sheets, which is why silk thread is so strong.
• Antifreeze protein (type I)Some fish in icy water make this protein. It grabs onto baby ice crystals so they cannot grow big enough to hurt the fish.
• Firefly luciferaseLuciferase is the enzyme that makes a firefly's tail glow. It uses ATP fuel to turn a chemical called luciferin into light.
• Alpha-crystallin AThis protein packs tightly into your eye lens so it stays clear. As we get older, it slowly tangles, and lenses can cloud over.
• Hemagglutinin (H1N1 flu)Hemagglutinin is the spike on flu viruses. It grabs onto cells in your nose and throat so the virus can get in.
• RuBisCORuBisCO is how plants grab carbon out of the air to build sugar. It is part of the engine of photosynthesis.
• Aldolase AAldolase is a sugar-cutter. It splits a six-carbon sugar in half so your cells can keep pulling energy out of it.
• Growth hormoneGrowth hormone is a signal from a gland in your brain. It tells your body, especially during sleep, to grow taller.

How we build it

FoldLens Junior is the K-12 sibling of FoldLens. Both apps consume FoldKit, our shared open-source Swift library. Junior adds the tier-appropriate voice, the age gate, the curriculum mapping, and the classroom-friendly renderer tuning.

Source code is private until v1.0 and goes public under Apache 2.0 at launch. Content is CC BY 4.0.