Malaria a global pandemic has engulfed nearly 0.63 million people globally. It is high time that a cure for malaria is required to stop its ever increasing menace. Our commentary discusses the advent and contribution of diversity oriented synthesis (DOS) in the drug discovery efforts towards developing cure for malaria. DOS based on chemical genetics focusses on design and synthesis of molecular libraries which covers large tracts of biologically relevant chemical space. Herein we will discuss the applications, advantages, disadvantages and future directions of DOS with respect to malaria. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.