A Brilliant Brain

Biography

Tu Youyou is a Chinese pharmaceutical chemist who revolutionized malaria treatment by discovering artemisinin, a potent antimalarial compound derived from sweet wormwood. Her systematic screening of traditional Chinese medicinal plants during the Cultural Revolution led to a breakthrough that has saved millions of lives across Africa and Asia. In 2015, she became the first Chinese woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Key Facts

• Led Project 523, a secret Chinese antimalarial drug research program during the Vietnam War era
• Discovered artemisinin by studying over 2,000 traditional Chinese herbal remedies, specifically extracting it from Artemisia annua (sweet wormwood)
• Her artemisinin-based treatments reduce malaria mortality by over 90% and are on the WHO Essential Medicines List
• Received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015 at age 84, sharing it with two other parasitologists
• Continued research at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences despite limited laboratory resources during the Cultural Revolution