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L A S K E R ~ D E B A K E Y C L I N I C A L M E D I C A L R E S E A R C H AWA R D
COM M E N TA RY
The discovery of artemisinin (qinghaosu) and gifts from Chinese medicine
Youyou Tu
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2011 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.
Joseph Goldstein has written in this journal that creation (through invention) and revelation (through discovery) are two different routes to advancement in the biomedical sciences1. In my work as a phytochemist, particularly during the period from the late 1960s to the 1980s, I have been fortunate enough to travel both routes.
I graduated from the Beijing Medical University School of Pharmacy in 1955. Since then, I have been involved in research on Chinese herbal medicine in the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (previously known as the Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine). From 1959 to 1962, I was released from work to participate in a training course in Chinese medicine that was especially designed for professionals with backgrounds in Western medicine. The 2.5-year training guided me to the wonderful treasure to be found in Chinese medicine and toward understanding the beauty in the philosophical thinking that underlies a holistic view of human beings and the universe.
Discovery of antimalarial effect of qinghao Malaria, caused by Plasmodium falciparum, has been a life-threatening disease for thousands of years. After the failure of international attempts to eradicate malaria in the 1950s, the disease rebounded, largely due to the emergence of parasites resistant to the existing antimalarial drugs of the time, such as chloroquine. This created an urgent need for new antimalarial medicines. In 1967, a national project against malaria was set up in China under the leadership of the Project 523 office. My institute quickly became involved in the project and appointed me to be the head of a malaria
Figure 1 A Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies by Ge Hong (284346 CE). (a) Ming dynasty version (1574 CE) of the handbook. (b) A handful of qinghao immersed with 2 liters of water, wring out the juice and drink it all is printed in the fifth line from the right. (From...