Tu Youyou
Tu Youyou is a renowned Chinese scientist best known for her groundbreaking discovery of artemisinin, an antimalarial drug derived from traditional Chinese medicine. Born on December 30, 1930, in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, she pursued her education in pharmaceutical sciences at Peking University School of Medicine and later focused on traditional Chinese medicine at the Institute of Materia Medica. Her significant contributions emerged during the tumultuous period of the Vietnam War when she led Project 523, aimed at developing effective treatments for malaria, a disease that was becoming increasingly resistant to existing medications.
Through meticulous research and an innovative extraction technique from the herb sweet wormwood, Tu Youyou successfully identified artemisinin, which has since become a cornerstone in malaria treatment worldwide. Her work, published in 1977, laid the foundation for further advancements, including the discovery of a more potent derivative, dihydroartemisinin. Despite facing challenges in recognition throughout her career, Tu gained international acclaim, culminating in the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015. Her achievements highlight the vital role women play in science and medicine, as well as the impact of traditional knowledge on modern healthcare solutions. Tu's legacy continues to influence global health initiatives targeting malaria and beyond.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Tu Youyou
Chemist
- Born: December 30, 1930
- Place of Birth: Zhejiang Ningbo, China
Education: Peking University School of Medicine (Beijing Medical College); Institute of Materia Medica
Significance: Tu Youyou discovered the revolutionary antimalarial drug artemisinin using traditional Chinese medicine as inspiration. She shared the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the global impact of her work.
Background
Tu Youyou was born on December 30, 1930, in the city of Ningbo, in Zhejiang province on the east coast. She was the only daughter among five children. Growing up, Tu attended two prestigious schools, Xiaoshi Middle School and Ningbo Middle School, to complete her secondary education. She entered Peking University School of Medicine (later renamed Beijing Medical College) in 1951 to pursue a graduate degree in pharmaceutical sciences, which she obtained four years later.
Still interested in medicine, Tu joined the Institute of Materia Medica to study traditional Chinese medicine. She has said that her decision to study traditional medicine was spurred mostly by one of her professors from Peking University, phytochemist Lin Qi Shou.
Tu never obtained a postgraduate degree because they simply were not available in China at the time. She also never studied or worked in any labs abroad, and she never joined any national academic societies. As a result, she has earned the nickname “The Professor with Three Nos,” though this nontraditional academic path did not prevent her from making significant scientific and medical discoveries.
Life’s Work
With her graduate studies in traditional Chinese medicine complete, Tu traveled to Beijing to begin work at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Her time there coincided with China’s involvement in the Vietnam War and the Chinese Cultural Revolution. During these tumultuous times, North Vietnamese officials asked for help from their Chinese allies in finding ways to combat malaria, which plagued much of the globe except the far northern and southern regions. Malaria is a parasitic disease that is transmitted by mosquitoes and can result in death. The only preventive treatment at the time, chloroquine, was quickly becoming obsolete as the parasite responsible for the disease was becoming resistant to the medication.
As malaria ravaged the North Vietnamese and Chinese troops, China’s leader, Mao Zedong, created a top-secret project in response: Project 523, which began on May 23, 1967. The project’s goal was to develop a new treatment for malaria, and Tu was put in charge of the effort. Meanwhile, similar efforts in the United States were unsuccessful. Tu used her training in traditional Chinese medicine to guide her research team and spent two years delving into ancient texts and compiling a list of some 380 solutions made from some 200 herbs that appeared to have been used to treat malaria in the past. The herb known as sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) in the West and qīnghāo in Chinese seemed a particularly promising candidate.
Tu and her team tested various extractions from the plant, but none worked until Tu found a recipe dating back to the fourth century, titled “Emergency Prescriptions Kept Up One’s Sleeve,” that described an extraction process she had not yet tried: steeping the herb in cold water and not boiling it. This technique worked, and the extract proved effective at combating malaria in animals. Eventually, Tu tested the drug on herself first and then proceeded to confirm with volunteers that it worked in humans as well.
It took until the 1970s for the full benefit of Tu’s research to be realized, and her work was published in 1977 after the cultural tumult in China had abated. Tu was forced to submit the paper anonymously to adhere to the egalitarian ethos of Chinese society at the time. The specific compound that was effective in destroying the parasite responsible for infecting humans with malaria was identified as artemisinin. Its chemical structure was described, and labs around the world were able to produce it synthetically. Meanwhile, Tu had accidentally discovered a stronger form of artemisinin, dihydroartemisinin, which was ten times as effective as its progenitor and has remained a standard in malaria treatments for decades since.
Tu eventually became the chief scientist at the China Academy of Traditional Medicine and remained there for the rest of her career.
Impact
Despite the impact her discovery had on health worldwide, Tu remained largely unknown until around 2011, when malaria researchers began to ask who had discovered the wonder drug artemisinin. As her role spearheading the discovery of artemisinin became more widely known, Tu began to receive international recognition. She has received such awards as the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award (2011), the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize (2015), China's Highest Science and Technology Award (2016), and China's Order of the Republic (2019).
In 2015, Tu was awarded the United States’ top prize in medical science, the Lasker Award, which recognizes individuals “who have made major advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of human disease.” The award is often considered an indicator of future Nobel Prize winners. In October 2015, Tu was awarded a half-share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her revolutionary work in developing novel treatments for malaria. At the time, she was eighty-five years old. Tu and her accomplishments in changing the course of a major global health issue are an example of the importance women hold in the medical and scientific fields.
Personal Life
Tu’s husband, Li Tingzhao, is a metallurgical engineer. She met him as a classmate at Xiaoshi Middle School. The two live in Beijing and have two daughters.
Bibliography
“Artemisinin Therapy for Malaria.” Lasker Foundation, Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, 2011. Accessed 28 June 2016.
Li, Xiaohong, Youyou Tu, Linhua Tang, Qi Gao, and Pedro L. Alonso. "The Role of Research in China's Successful Elimination of Malaria." Nature Medicine, vol. 28, 2022, pp. 1336-38, doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01824-0. Accessed 2 Oct. 2024.
McKenna, Phil. “Nobel Prize Goes to Modest Woman Who Beat Malaria for China.” New Scientist, Reed Business Information, 5 Oct. 2015. Accessed 1 June 2016.
Padmanaban, G. “Nobel Shot in the Arm for Neglected Infectious Disease Research.” Current Science, vol. 109, no. 9, 10 Nov. 2015, p. 1537.
Perlez, Jane. “Answering an Appeal by Mao Led Tu Youyou, a Chinese Scientist, to a Nobel Prize.” The New York Times, 7 Oct. 2015. Accessed 1 June 2016.
“Tu Youyou on Being Awarded the Nobel Prize.” Chinese American Forum, vol. 31, no. 2, Oct. 2015, p. 19.
Trankmann, Beate, and Smriti Aryal. “Women In Science Can Change World.” China Daily - Global Edition, 23 Dec. 2022, global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202212/23/WS63a53660a31057c47eba5de7.html. Accessed 24 Apr. 2023.
Wenzong, Li. “Tu Youyou: Bringer of Traditional Chinese Medicine to the World.” China Today, China Internet Information Center, 2 Dec. 2015. Accessed 1 June 2016.