Malaria is endemic in many parts of the world including India and kills millions in Africa and South East Asia and its main reason of such morbidity and mortality s because of its parasitic getting resistant to many available medicines. The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, employed the robot scientist 'Eve' in a high-throughput screen and discovered that triclosan, an ingredient found in many kinds of toothpaste, may help the fight against drug-resistance.
When used in toothpaste, triclosan prevents the build-up of plaque bacteria by inhibiting the action of an enzyme known as enoyl reductase (ENR), which is involved in the production of fatty acids. Scientists have known for some time that triclosan also inhibits the growth in culture of the malaria parasite Plasmodium during the blood-stage, and assumed that this was because it was targeting ENR, which…
