奇速英语

屠呦呦

The landmark success of herbal expert Tu Youyou, the first Chinese woman national to win a Nobel prize in science, has aroused an intense sense of national pride and hopes on the future of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Tu, born in 1930, shared the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Irish-born William Campbell and Japan’s Satoshi Omura for her discoveries concerning a therapy against malaria.

She discovered Artemisinin, a drug that has significantly reduced the death rates for patients suffering from malaria. “Artemisinin is a gift for the world people from the traditional Chinese medicine. It is of great significance for curing malaria and other infectious diseases and for protecting the health of the world people,” Tu said in Beijing. “ The discovery of Artemisinin is a successful example of collective research on traditional Chinese medicine. The prize winning is an honor for China’s science cause and traditional Chinese medicine in their course of reaching out to the world.”

“Tu’s winning the prize signifies China’s prosperity and progress in scientific and technological field, marks a great contribution of traditional Chinese medicine to the cause of human health, and showcases China’s growing strengths and rising international standing,” Premier Li Keqiang said in a congratulatory letter Monday evening.

In 2011, Tu became the first scientist on the mainland to win America’s respected Lasker Award for the anti-malaria therapy. Graduating from the Beijing Medical College in 1955, she is chief researcher and professor at the Beijing-based China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.

On China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo, the breaking news has been forwarded by at least tens of thousands of users and received numerous “thumb-ups.” Netizen “Shengxiaxohuiyi” wrote, “ Now I feel truly proud of being a medical student.”