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Science 3 September 1999:
Vol. 285. no. 5433, pp. 1502 - 1503
DOI: 10.1126/science.285.5433.1502
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Perspectives

Also see the archival list of Science's Compass: Enhanced Perspectives

BIOMEDICINE:
Enhanced: Planting the Seeds of New Antimalarial Drugs

Robert G. Ridley

The most lethal form of malaria is caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which has become increasingly resistant to existing drugs. New antimalarial compounds are therefore desperately needed to halt the several million deaths that occur each year from malaria. Robert Ridley of the World Health Organization discusses the finding of a new metabolic pathway for synthesizing isoprenoids (such as cholesterol) in P. falciparum. This pathway is found in plants and bacteria but not in animals and thus its enzymes should prove valuable targets for the development of antimalarial drugs.

The author is with Drug Discovery Research and the New Medicines for Malaria Venture, Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Antimalarial Activities and Therapeutic Properties of Febrifugine Analogs.
S. Jiang, Q. Zeng, M. Gettayacamin, A. Tungtaeng, S. Wannaying, A. Lim, P. Hansukjariya, C. O. Okunji, S. Zhu, and D. Fang (2005)
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 49, 1169-1176
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
High-Throughput Generation of P. falciparum Functional Molecules by Recombinational Cloning.
J. C. Aguiar, J. LaBaer, P. L. Blair, V. Y. Shamailova, M. Koundinya, J. A. Russell, F. Huang, W. Mar, R. M. Anthony, A. Witney, et al. (2004)
Genome Res. 14, 2076-2082
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A NOVEL DNA-BASED MICROFLUORIMETRIC METHOD TO EVALUATE ANTIMALARIAL DRUG ACTIVITY.
Y. CORBETT, L. HERRERA, J. GONZALEZ, L. CUBILLA, T. L. CAPSON, P. D. COLEY, T. A. KURSAR, L. I. ROMERO, and E. ORTEGA-BARRIA (2004)
Am J Trop Med Hyg 70, 119-124
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From the Cover: Plant-like traits associated with metabolism of Trypanosoma parasites.
V. Hannaert, E. Saavedra, F. Duffieux, J.-P. Szikora, D. J. Rigden, P. A. M. Michels, and F. R. Opperdoes (2003)
PNAS 100, 1067-1071
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Structure of 2C-methyl-D-erythritol 2,4- cyclodiphosphate synthase: An essential enzyme for isoprenoid biosynthesis and target for antimicrobial drug development.
L. E. Kemp, C. S. Bond, and W. N. Hunter (2002)
PNAS 99, 6591-6596
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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