Tu Youyou

Tu Youyou (born December 30, 1930) is a Chinese pharmaceutical chemist and medicinal scientist best known for the discovery of artemisinin, a key treatment for malaria. While working on Project 523 in the 1960s, she systematically tested numerous traditional Chinese medicine remedies and experimentally showed that only one, derived from Artemisia annua, exhibited antimalarial activity. However, the traditional preparation methods proved ineffective, as standard extraction techniques destroyed the active compound. By critically reinterpreting an ancient text, Tu inferred that the substance had to be extracted at low temperature, and she developed a cold-solvent extraction method that successfully isolated active artemisinin. This breakthrough revolutionized malaria treatment worldwide and earned her the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015.

Quotes

• Every scientist dreams of doing something that can help the world.
• The discovery of artemisinin was an example of successful collective efforts.
• Chinese awards are always given to teams, but foreign awards are different.