Enzyme discovery paves way to tackling deadly parasite diseases
Thursday, September 25, 2014 - 00:32
in Biology & Nature
An enzyme found in all living things could hold the key to combating deadly diseases such as sleeping sickness, a study suggests. Researchers say this discovery creates an opportunity to design drugs that block activity of the enzyme -- known as pyruvate kinase -- in species that cause infection. Blocking the enzyme would effectively kill the parasite, without affecting the same enzyme in the patient.