Two chemical compounds, methylene blue and another similar one, might kill malaria parasites by messing with their internal electron system instead of damaging their energy factories. Scientists think this happens because of how these chemicals interact with a specific molecule in the parasite.

Two specific chemicals used to fight malaria work differently than two other common malaria drugs — they mess with the parasite’s internal chemistry in a unique way, which can be seen by how the parasite’s shape changes under the microscope.

Two chemicals, methylene blue and another compound, can kill the malaria parasite even when the parasite's energy system (called the mitochondrial electron chain) is turned off. This means they work in a different way than most drugs.

Two chemicals, methylene blue and another compound, don’t stop malaria parasites from using their energy system the way a known drug (atovaquone) does — so they must be killing the parasites in a completely different way, probably by messing with how electrons move inside the cell.

Atovaquone is a drug that stops a key energy process in the malaria parasite in lab tests, but two other chemicals, methylene blue and another compound, don’t stop it the same way.