Gates Foundation Invests 42.6 Million dollar in Malaria Drug Research

摘要

In December 2004, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation of Seattle, Washington, awarded a 42.6 million dollar, 5-year grant to develop a semi-synthetic form of artemisinin, a highly effective anti-malarial drug. Currently, artemisinin is derived fromthe leaves of a traditional Chinese medicinal plant that Westerners often call sweet Annie (Artemisia annua L., Asteraceae).~1 The Gates Foundation awarded the grant to the Institute for OneWorld Health to fund a partnership among Amyris Biotechnologies,OneWorld Health, and the University of California at Berkeley. The goal of the partnership is to create a more affordable and accessible semi-synthetic version of the anti-malarial drug artemisinin. The partners are collaborating to manufacture microbes