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Nature 424, 887-889 (21 August 2003) | doi:10.1038/424887a

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Malaria: To kill a parasite

Robert G. Ridley1

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Artemisinins have been used since ancient times to treat malaria. A new theory could explain how this age-old medicine is able to cause the death of the malaria parasite.

The Chinese herb qinghao (Artemisia annua) has long been used to treat malaria — Taoist manuscripts dating back to the third century describe the use of qinghao extracts to treat malaria-related fevers1. Over the past two decades, derivatives of the herb's active ingredient, artemisinin, have made an increasing contribution to malaria treatment.

  1. UNDP/WorldBank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Disease, World Health Organization, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland.
    Email: ridleyr@who.int