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Also known as 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine, this chemical is a base analog of thymidine, with the thymine substituted by bromouracil. Because BrdU can replace thymidine, excessive exposure to the chemical can cause mutations.

BrdU is a common chemical used in the detection of proliferating cells in living tissues. It works by substituting for thymidine during DNA replication (being a base analog of thymidine) and incorporating itself into the newly synthesized DNA. Antibodies specific for BrdU can then be used to detect the incorporated chemical (see immunohistochemistry), thus indicating cells that were actively replicating its DNA (proliferating). It is frequently used in conjunction with antibodies that reveal cell type in what are known as "double-labeling" experiments.