Scientists hope that a breakthrough in our understanding of malaria could provide potentially effective treatment for coronavirus and other infectious diseases.

A new study has found that the parasites that cause the mosquito-borne infectious disease are highly dependent on certain enzymes in the red blood cells of a human host.

Led by experts at the Australian RMIT University, the study found that drugs that deactivate these human enzymes are very effective in killing the malaria parasite – and represent an alternative to drugs that target the parasite itself. .