It looks as though there is still wisdom left to be mined from the ancients, as evident by scientist Tu Youyou, who in the midst of the Cultural Revolution, decided to join up in a covert mission in order to figure out a malaria cure. Known as “Project 523″, it was commissioned all the way back in 1967 (that’s nearly half a century ago!) by Chairman Mao Zedong, where Project 523’s main objective would be to assist the Communist troops who are duking it out in Vietnam’s jungles that are thick with mosquitoes – and if one does not fall to bullets, malaria provides another avenue to the nether world.
Tu then decided to look to the ancient texts and folk manuals for guidance, not to mention making her way to the more remote areas of the country for additional clues. All in all, her careful and observant work resulted in the collection of 2,000 potential remedies, where she had to thin that ridiculously large figure down to a “mere” 380. From there, she tested each potential cure on individual mice, and realized that one of the compounds which were derived from sweet wormwood actually reduced the number of malaria parasites in the mouse’s blood. This treatment was first recorded 1,600 years ago in China, where one was recommended to drink juice extracted from the plant.
After her hard work, it resulted in the drug known as artemisinin, which is now the best defense against malaria for humans. Still, malaria claims close to half a million people each year, but for Tu’s hard work, she picked up a Nobel Prize for medicine this week. I wonder what medicinal secrets do the tombs of the Pharaohs hold until today?
Filed in .. Source: edition.cnn