"Robot Scientist" Discovers That An Infamous Soap Ingredient Could Treat Drug-Resistant Malaria - IFLScience

Triclosan, a once-ubiquitous antimicrobial agent that is now embroiled in controversy, may be effective in treating one of the world’s worst diseases, according to findings from the University of Cambridge.

Each year, millions of people worldwide suffer from malaria infections and nearly 500,000 of those die. Scientists identified the cause of the disease – a mosquito-bourne protozoan – over 100 years ago, and several treatments and preventative medications exist. Yet like many bacteria, the single-celled parasite continues to evolve resistance to our drugs, making the search for next-generation antimalarials a top priority in the public health field.  

Nearly 20 years ago, scientists noted that triclosan, already known as a popular antibacterial agent, could slow the growth of the malaria protozoan using the same mechanism it applies to bacteria: Inhibition of a cell membrane building enzyme called ENR. 

Researchers then tried to develop triclosan-based compounds with boosted affinity for ENR, but the drugs failed to treat malaria infections because the parasites only crucially rely on this enzyme during the first part of their life cycle, when they hunker down in the liver to begin mass asexual reproduction. The second, or “erythrocytic” phase, begins when the new army of protozoans migrate into the bloodstream, invading and killing red blood cells. It is at this point that the severe, flu-like symptoms of the malaria disease manifest.

Illustration of malaria parasites bursting from a red blood cell. Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock

It turns out, however, that the triclosan molecule had another trick in its repertoire all along – one that was overlooked until an artificial intelligence "robot scientist" named Eve joined in on the action.

Developed at the University of Manchester, Eve serves to speed up the drug discovery process by rapidly screening huge numbers of compounds to see if they are active against a chosen target, such as a species of bacteria or parasite. It can then “automatically develop and test hypotheses to explain observations, run experiments using laboratory robotics, [and] interpret the results,” according to a statement from Eve’s engineers. 

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