During the 1960s, as malaria took a heavy toll on soldiers during the Vietnam War, standard drugs like chloroquine began to fail. In China, a secret military project named was launched to find a new cure.
: A scientist tasked with the mission turned to ancient medical texts. She discovered a reference to "sweet wormwood" ( Artemisia annua ) being used to treat fever in 340 AD. antimalarial drug
: After many failures, Tu realized that high-heat extraction was destroying the active ingredient. She used a low-temperature method to isolate Artemisinin . During the 1960s, as malaria took a heavy