Tu Youyou discovered artemisinin, a major malaria treatment, through a systematic investigation of traditional Chinese medical texts and remedies.
During the Vietnam War era, malaria parasites were becoming resistant to existing drugs. Tu led a research team in China that screened hundreds of preparations. The team found a promising clue in descriptions of sweet wormwood, or Artemisia annua, and developed a low-temperature extraction method that preserved the active compound.
Artemisinin and its derivatives became central components of modern combination therapies for malaria, especially infections caused by Plasmodium falciparum. Tu’s work connected historical medical knowledge with laboratory chemistry and clinical testing.
She shared the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura. Her surname is Tu and her given name is Youyou; “Youyou Tu” is the standard English order used in many references.