British AI robot finds malaria killer in common toothpaste ingredient - Xinhua

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- An artificial intelligence (AI) robot made by a British university has become a big hero after it helped scientists find a malaria killer in a common toothpaste ingredient, a new study revealed Thursday. Scientists at the university of Cambridge in Britain used the "Robot Scientist," Eve, in a high-throughput screen and discovered that triclosan, an ingredient found in many toothpastes, may help fight against strains of a malaria parasite that have grown resistant to one of the currently-used drugs to treat the disease. The findings of the study by the Cambridge researchers were published in the journal Scientific Reports on Thursday. With the help of the AI-powered Eve, the researchers discovered that triclosan inhibits the spread of a kind of enzyme of the malaria parasite, called DHFR, thus stopping the growth of the parasite in the blood. The discovery challenged a previous assumption that triclosan inhibits the growth in culture of the malaria parasite Plasmodium during the blood-stage, because it is targeting an enzyme known as enoyl reductase (ENR) found in the liver.