Phytovance - Virtual molecular docking platform for neglected African diseases
# Phytovance
**Virtual screening of molecules against neglected diseases of Africa.**
Phytovance is an online molecular-docking laboratory. A visitor submits a molecule
(by common name or SMILES) and it is docked in real time against a validated
disease target; the predicted binding pose is shown in 3D and compared against the
reference drug for that target. A pre-computed library of molecules, including
compounds from African medicinal plants, is also screened and ranked.
Live instance:
phytovance.shadrakbessanh.me
> **Résumé (FR).** Phytovance est un laboratoire de criblage moléculaire en ligne
> dédié aux maladies négligées d'Afrique. On teste une molécule contre une cible
> protéique validée (docking AutoDock Vina), on visualise la pose 3D et on la
> compare au médicament de référence. Le moteur est fondé sur une méthode publiée
> et sa fiabilité est mesurée, y compris sur des complexes publics indépendants
> (voir `/benchmarks`).
## Why this exists
Antimalarial resistance (e.g. the *P. falciparum* DHFR S108N mutation) keeps
eroding existing treatments, and neglected diseases attract little industrial
drug-discovery investment. Early-stage virtual screening is cheap, fast, and a
legitimate way to prioritise laboratory work, especially for under-resourced
research groups. Phytovance makes that pipeline usable from a browser.
## What it does
- **Live docking**: name or SMILES in, binding score + 3D pose out, compared to
the reference drug for the selected target.
- **Pre-computed screening**: a ranked library (drugs + African-plant compounds)
per target, with drug-likeness (Lipinski) annotation.
- **Multi-target ready**: diseases/targets are declared in a registry
(`scripts/targets.py`); adding a disease is adding one entry.
- **Openly measured**: a public `/benchmarks` page reports internal validation
and an independent external redocking benchmark, with honest scope statements.
## Scientific method
Every target follows the same automated pipeli …