There is an old saying in China that saving one life is better than building a seven-level pagoda. The artemisinin discovered and studied by Tu Youyou’s team has not only saved tens of thousands of people, so she is the most famous person in the 20th century. One of the great scientists is no exaggeration.
First, from the process of her discovery of artemisinin, we can see that she is a rare talent who knows everything from ancient to modern times. In the 1960s, Tu Youyou first discovered a record about malaria treatment when browsing ancient Chinese medicine books. Thanks to her efforts, the research team determined the research direction to focus on the traditional Chinese medicine Artemisia annua, although experimental results showed that the inhibitory rate of Artemisia annua extract against murine Plasmodium was only 12%-40%. However, she firmly focused on improving the purity of extraction, and led the team to deliver extraordinary answers in a not-so-good working environment.
Second, from the process of researching medicines, she saw the benevolence of medical scientists. Anyone who is the first to eat something is a warrior, and Tu Youyou's team discovered artemisinin after hundreds of failures in their research on malaria prevention and treatment drugs. In order to test the safety of artemisinin, Tu Youyou and three other researchers tested the drug themselves. In ancient times, Shen Nong tasted hundreds of herbs, but now there are scientific researchers who personally test medicines. It is precisely because of the sacrificial spirit of Tu Youyou and her team that drugs made from artemisinin were quickly put into clinical treatment, providing high-quality drugs for the treatment of malaria around the world.
Third, judging from Tu Youyou’s achievements, she deserves to be one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. As a lifelong researcher at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Tu Youyou won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of artemisinin and her creation of a new treatment method for malaria. Many Chinese people gradually became familiar with him because of this award. In fact, everyone has already enjoyed the benefits of her research results. The drugs developed for her discovery of artemisinin have become highly recommended by the World Health Organization and are the preferred drugs for disease treatment in more than 30 countries around the world, saving the lives of more than 7 million patients with severe malaria.
Fourth, Tu Youyou’s research results are of great benefit not only to the past, but also to the present and the future. Because of artemisinin, malaria in China has been well controlled, but malaria is still rampant in some countries. Therefore, Tu Youyou's research results will have a lasting effect in helping these regions and countries solve malaria. Moreover, Tu Youyou also donated 2 million yuan from her Nobel Prize to the Peking University School of Medicine and the Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences respectively, and established the Tu Youyou Innovation Fund to reward young scientific researchers. The research results of these researchers will also bring us better medical conditions and results.
Great people can not only give full play to their absolute advantages, but also improve the lives of others and lead the way forward in the future. Tu Youyou has done very well in these aspects, so she can be called one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century.