Rational Drug Design

• Malaria is a disease caused by parasitic protozoans of the genus Plasmodium
• Malaria drugs target specific enzymes that are involved in the maturation and development of the parasite in both human and mosquito host
• Enzymes may be screened against a bioinformatic database of chemicals to identify potential enzyme inhibitors
• Rational drug design involves using computer modelling techniques to invent a compound that will function as an inhibitor