How Was Artemisinin Discovered and How Does It Work? Artemisinin was discovered in 1972 by Chinese scientist Tu Youyou, who isolated it from the sweet wormwood plant, Artemisia annua, after following a low temperature extraction hinted at in a fourth century medical text. It works because an endoperoxide bridge in the molecule is activated by iron inside malaria parasites, generating reactive radicals that rapidly kill the parasite. Today, artemisinin is the cornerstone of WHO-recommended artemisinin-based combination therapies for uncomplicated malaria.

From ancient herb to lifesaving medicine: how Tu Youyou isolated artemisinin and how this malaria fighter works in ACTs. #ACTs #ArtemisiaAnnua #Artemisinin #Malaria #TuYouyou

She found a cure for malaria in and she tested it on herself first.

Tu Youyou, the force of nature who saved millions and won a Nobel Prize.

Full story & charcoal portrait on my #FeministFriday series:

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#TuYouyou #WomenInSTEM

Sources - Canadian Association for Girls In Science (CAGIS) Sources CAGIS regularly creates social media posts about the latest STEM news and discoveries. These posts may contain information sourced from Canadian news media, which can no longer be shared on Fa...

Teen ambassadors, Diana and Sophia contributed to the creation of this post.

Image: Bengt Nyman, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

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#ThisIsWhatAPharmacologistLooksLike #TuYouYou #Malaria #NobelPrize #Pharmacology

In Bilal, my undercover journey to Europe, Fabrizio Gatti mentions in passing #artemisinin, discovered by #TuYouyou, as a prophylactic drug against #malaria. But when my youngest sister was in Ghana for work, she took old-fashioned #mefloquine.
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