Lasker Award for the Discovery of Artemesinin
Tu youyou, an 81 year old Chinese lady is largely
unknown, unfeted, and faceless in her own country but today she is famous
all over the world for winning the Laskar Award for advances in medical
research. It all started as a secret project of the Chinese Government in
1967. The task was to find an effective drug for malaria among the various
herbs used in traditional Chinese medicines. Mao Zedong’s urgings to
"explore and further improve" the "great treasure house" of traditional
Chinese medicine, pushed Tu to sift through ancient texts and folk
remedies for possible leads. She painstakingly evaluated more than 2000
chinese herbs and by 1971 had 380 extracts from 200 plants. One of the
most promising extracts was from qinghau, Artemisia annua L, or
sweet wormwood. But perplexingly the results were not always reproducible.
For a while the secrets seemed locked behind the impenetrable walls of
time. Unfazed she reopened the original ancient Chinese text A Handbook
of Prescriptions for Emergencies by the third-century Chinese
physician Ge Hong. The single cryptic line seemed to mock at her "A
handful of qinghao immersed with two liters of water, wring out the juice
and drink it all." Then came the blinding revelation that perhaps heating
destroyed the active ingredient.
She went back to the laboratory. A non toxic neutral
extract with minimal heating was produced. Such was their missionary zeal,
Tu and two team members even volunteered to take the extract before
antimalarial trials were done in patients. She also removed a harmful
acidic portion of the extract that did not contribute to antimalarial
activity, tracked the material to the leaves rather than other parts of
the plant, and figured out when to harvest the herb to maximize yields.
These innovations boosted potency and slashed toxicity. At a March 1972
meeting of the Project 523 group’s key participants, she reported that the
neutral plant extract —number 191—obliterated Plasmodia in the
blood of mice and monkeys!
Several papers were published in Chinese journals all
anonymously as was Chinese tradition in those days. But the first English
language journal publication came in 1979. The group also purified the
active ingredient using chromatography. They found that it had a unique
molecular structure radically different from all known antimalarials
called sesquiterpene lactone. In the 1980’s interest in Artemesinin
continued to grow steadily. Today the WHO recommends artemesinin based
combinations as first line for falciparum malaria. Tu Youyou’s rediscovery
of secrets discovered centuries ago by the ancient chinese has helped to
save millions of lives round the world. (The Lancet 24 September
2011).
The Food Plate – The New US Icon for Healthy Eating
The US Congress has a law that every 5 years "Dietary
Guidelines for Americans" will be published to educate Americans with the
most current, evidence based, scientific knowledge about healthy eating.
The story about what went into making the 2010 guidelines which was
released recently is fascinating. Between 1992 and 2005, the Food Guide
pyramid has become one of the most visible, well known and influential
icons in history. Nutrition educators, schools, the food industry and the
general public have used it to modify eating behavior. But qualitative
research in 2002-2004 found that while the Food Pyramid had great brand
equity, something new was required to refocus attention on healthy eating.
A plate of food was identified as a simple, appealing way to educate
people about what they must eat.
Besides the food plate seven main messages were
developed and studied: (1) Enjoy what you eat, just eat less of it; (2)
Make half your plate fruits and vegetables; (3) Drink water instead of
sugary drinks; (4) Make at least half your grains whole grains; (5) Avoid
oversized portions; (6) Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, and
frozen meals – and choose the foods with lower numbers; and (7) Switch to
1% or fat-free milk.
Between 2011 and 2013, every 4 months, one of these
messages will be sent out to the public via various public and private
sector partners. The additional theme which will be stressed throughout
these 2 years is "Be active your own way". (www.ChooseMyPlate.gov).