Scientist Spotlight: Tu Youyou

Scientist Spotlight:

A drawing of Tu Youyou (from Twitter: @Nina_Chhita)

Fast Facts

Name: Tu Youyou

Date of Birth: December 30th, 1930 (age 90)

Nationality: Chinese

Profession: Biomedical scientist (biochemist + phytochemist)

Research area: Malaria and artemisinin

Tu Youyou is a famed scientist: apart from her achievements, such as becoming the first Chinese female to win a Nobel Prize as well as becoming the first Chinese National to receive a Nobel Prize in physiology/medicine, she played a major role in discovering a new therapy for combating malaria.

Malaria is an infectious disease that causes fever; the vectors that they are transported in are mosquitoes. In 1970, after years of research, Tu Youyou managed to successfully extract a substance now known as 'artemisinin' from sweet wormwood. Interestingly, this research was inspired by ancient Chinese texts that described the ability of the plant to treat fevers.

Tu Youyou continues to research about the qualities of artemisinin. Not only has she pioneered in the field of malaria therapy and saved countless lives, but she has inspired young girls across the world to become future scientists too.