科技英语新闻:Chinese scientist presented "America' s Nobel" for anti-malaria drug

She advocated a global collaboration in the research of Chinese and other traditional medicines in order to maximize their benefits to the healthcare of the human beings.

In early 1969, Tu was appointed head of a government project that aimed to eradicate malaria, and it was then she began applying modern techniques with Chinese traditional medicine to find drug therapy for malaria.

After detecting 380 extracts made from 2,000 candidate recipes, Tu and her colleagues obtained a pure substance called "Qinghaosu," which became known as artemisinin in 1972.

An artemisinin-based drug combination is now the standard regimen for malaria, and the World Health Organization lists artemisinin and related agents in its catalog of "Essential Medicines."

"Professor Tu's achievement was one of the most important achievements in infectious diseases of all areas," Anthony Fauci, director of U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Xinhua. "It is a good example that Chinese traditional medicine sometimes leads to global usable compound like artemisinin."

The Lasker Awards are among the most respected science prizes in the world. Since 1945, the Awards Program has recognized the contributions of scientists, physicians, and public servants who have made major advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of human disease.

In the last two decades, 28 Lasker laureates have gone on to receive the Nobel Prize, and 80 since 1945.