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The discovery of artemisinin (qinghaosu) and gifts from Chinese medicine

Nature Medicine volume 17, pages 1217–1220 (2011)Cite this article

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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.

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Figure 1: A Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies by Ge Hong (284–346 CE).
Figure 2: Artemisia annua L.
Figure 3: Artemisinin.
Figure 4: Delegates at the fourth meeting of the Scientific Working Group on the Chemotherapy of Malaria in Beijing in 1981.

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Acknowledgements

I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to all my colleagues at the Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine for their devotion to our work and for their exceptional contributions to the discovery and application of artemisinin and its derivatives. I thank my colleagues in the Shangdong Provincial Institute of Chinese Medicine, the Yunnan Provincial Institute of Materia Medica, the Institute of Biophysics and the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences for their significant contributions to Project 523. I also would pay my respects to the leadership at the national Project 523 office and their sound efforts in organizing the malaria project activities.

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  1. Youyou Tu is at the Qinghaosu Research Center, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.,

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Tu, Y. The discovery of artemisinin (qinghaosu) and gifts from Chinese medicine. Nat Med 17, 1217–1220 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.2471

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