Noble prize to Artemisinin discovery: A boost for traditional knowledge-based innovations

Abstract

On 5th October 2015, Youyou Tu has been awarded Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with William C. Campbell and Satoshi Omura for her valuable discovery on the antimalarial drug, artemisinin (Fig. 1). This Noble Prize in Physiology or Medicine had some distinct importance, especially because of nearly after 50 years’ Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute recognized the scientific contribution of one such a scientist, who believed on traditional herbal medicine and invented wonderful drug of all time ‘artemisinin’. The whole journey of Youyou Tu about artemisinin discovery was really an inspiring story and ideal for researchers who are intended to carry out traditional medicine guided drug discovery research in future.