How Chinese scientists discovered qinghaosu (artemisinin) and developed its derivatives? What are the future perspectives?

摘要

Since the middle of this century and espe- cially since the 1960s and 1970s, Chinese scientists have put considerable effort and resources into the search for new antimalarial compounds extracted from Chinese traditional herbs. Archaeological findings indicate that qinghao (Artemisia annua L.) has been used as a tradi- tional remedy in China for over two thousand years. Its antimalarial principle was finally isolated in 1971 and named artemisinin or qinghaosu (meaning the principle of qinghao in Chinese).