In the middle of China’s Cultural Revolution, when schools were closed and the country was in turmoil, a quiet scientist received a secret order that would change medicine forever.
It was January 1969. Chairman Mao Zedong gave 39-year-old Tu Youyou a life-changing mission: find a cure for malaria, a disease that was killing thousands of soldiers in Vietnam. The parasite had become resistant to old medicines, and time was running out.
“The work was the top priority,” Tu later recalled. “I was certainly willing to sacrifice my personal life.”
That quiet determination led to one of the greatest medical discoveries of the 20th century. In 2015, Tu Youyou became the first Chinese scientist to win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Her discovery of artemisinin has saved millions of lives — and it all started with ancient books and a lot of courage.
A Childhood that Shaped a Scientist
Tu Youyou was born in 1930 in Ningbo, a lovely port city in eastern China. Her parents loved education and named her after a beautiful line in an ancient poem. But when she was sixteen, she caught tuberculosis. For two long years she could not go to school. Lying in bed, she made a promise to herself: “I want to find cures for diseases like this one.”
When she recovered, she studied hard and went to Beijing to learn pharmacology. At Beijing Medical College, Tu immersed herself in pharmacology. She learned how to identify different medicinal plants, carefully extract their healing compounds, and understand their chemical makeup. When she graduated in 1955 at the age of just 24, she was assigned to the newly established Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Beijing. That institution would become her professional home for the rest of her career. Between 1959 and 1962, she took a special full-time course designed to help scientists trained in modern Western medicine better understand traditional Chinese healing methods. This unique training would later prove invaluable in her groundbreaking work.
The Urgent Call: Project 523
Malaria was spreading fast in Vietnam’s jungles. North Vietnam asked China for help. In response, China started a top-secret project called “523” on 23 May 1967. Tu Youyou was chosen in 1969 to lead the team searching traditional Chinese medicine for answers.
She travelled to Hainan Island, a hot tropical place where malaria was killing many people. “I saw a lot of children who were in the latest stages of malaria,” she remembered with sadness. “Those kids died very quickly.” The heartbreaking scenes gave her even more determination.
“Chinese medicine will help us conquer life-threatening diseases worldwide, and that people across the globe will enjoy its benefits for health promotion.” Tu Youyou
Discovering the Secret in Old Books
Back in Beijing, Tu and her team read more than 2,000 ancient medical recipes. They were looking for anything that might help with fevers — a main symptom of malaria. One day they found a clue in a book written more than 1,700 years ago by a doctor named Ge Hong.
The old text said: take sweet wormwood, soak it in water, squeeze out the juice, and drink it. At first, modern tests using boiling water did not work well. Tu had a clever thought: “Maybe the heat is destroying the good medicine inside the plant.”
She tried a gentler method — using low temperature and a special solvent. In October 1971, they finally succeeded. The new extract worked perfectly in animal tests.
But Tu was careful. “As the head of this research group, I had the responsibility,” she said. So she and two brave colleagues tested the medicine on themselves first to make sure it was safe for other people.
In 1972, they gave the treatment to 21 patients suffering from malaria on Hainan Island. Every single person got better. It was a joyful moment after years of hard work.
The Medicine that Changed the World
The powerful ingredient was named Artemisinin. Today, doctors use it in special combination medicines called ACTs. These treatments have become the main way to fight malaria around the world. Experts believe artemisinin has helped save millions of lives, especially young children in Africa and Asia.
Tu always reminded people of something very important: simply drinking tea made from sweet wormwood does not cure malaria. The plant must be carefully processed in laboratories using modern science to create safe and effective medicine.
“Chinese medicine will help us conquer life-threatening diseases worldwide, and that people across the globe will enjoy its benefits for health promotion.” Tu Youyou
A Humble Hero
Even after her huge success, Tu Youyou stayed very modest. “I do not want fame,” she said. “In our day, no essay was published under the author’s byline.” She kept all her old laboratory notes in cupboards at home — not to show off, but because it was her habit as a scientist.
When she finally received the Nobel Prize at the age of 84, many people in China felt proud and emotional. One fan wrote online: “Recognised at last!”
Her story also raised an interesting question. Project 523 was a huge team effort with hundreds of scientists. But the Nobel Prize went only to Tu. It showed the difference between China’s collectivist way of working together and the West’s focus on individual heroes.
For Tu, the answer was clear. She saw her success as a beautiful gift from China’s ancient medical wisdom and from all the people who worked quietly together.
Why Her Discovery Still Matters
Malaria is still a serious disease in many parts of the world. But thanks to Tu Youyou’s work, many more children now survive. Scientists continue to improve the medicine and fight against new resistance.
Tu Youyou’s journey teaches us something beautiful: great discoveries can come from listening to old knowledge, working hard with others, and never giving up — even when life is difficult.
As she once said, “Traditional Chinese medicine can help the whole world”. Her life proves that when ancient wisdom meets modern science, wonderful things can happen.
“Artemisinin… is a true gift from old Chinese medicine. But this is not the only instance in which the wisdom of Chinese medicine has borne fruit.” Tu Youyou
References:
- Nobel Prize Outreach. (2025). Tu Youyou – Facts. NobelPrize.org.
https://www.nobelprize.org - Phillips, T. (2015, October 5). Tu Youyou: how Mao’s challenge to malaria pioneer led to Nobel prize. The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com - Tu, Y. (2015). Nobel Lecture: Discovery of Artemisinin. NobelPrize.org.
- Lasker Foundation. (2011). Artemisinin Therapy for Malaria.
https://laskerfoundation.org - World Health Organisation. (2025). World Malaria Report.
https://www.who.int - Su, X. Z., & Miller, L. H. (2015). The discovery of artemisinin and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Science China Life Sciences.
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