Better living through bioinformatics

Fortunately, the Eisenthal and Cornish-Bowden model also identified one target that did make a difference. They found that the addition of a hypothetical uncompetitive inhibitor of the protein that transports pyruvate, the end product of glycolysis, might well cause a metabolic traffic jam that raised metabolites within the Trypanosome cell to toxic levels.

This bioinformatic approach — the modeling of a complex biological process, has thus laid the groundwork for a rational design of a drug that may someday be a frontline defense against sleeping sickness.

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