Born: 30 December 1930, China
Died: NA
Country most active: China
Also known as: 屠呦呦, Tú Yōuyōu
In 2015, Tu Youyou became the first first Chinese Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine and the first woman from the People’s Republic of China to receive a Nobel Prize in any category. The pharmaceutical chemist and malariologist discovered artemisinin (also known as qīnghāosù 青蒿素) and dihydroartemisinin, a breakthrough in 20th century tropical medicine. The resulting malaria treatment saved millions of lives in South China, Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America. While studying traditional Chinese and herbal medicines, she found a reference in ancient medical texts to using sweet wormwood to treat intermittent fevers, a symptom of malaria. Tu and her research team were able to extract artemisinin (qinghaosu) from wormwood in the 1970s. She even volunteered to be the first human subject to test the substance. Tu later became chief scientist at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, earning her position without a medical degree, a PhD, or research training abroad. In 2011, she became the first Chinese person to receive the Lasker Award for her discovery, which was called “arguably the most important pharmaceutical intervention in the last half-century” by the Lasker Foundation. Tu’s work in the 1960s and ’70s coincided with China’s Cultural Revolution, when scientists were denigrated as one of the nine black categories (or “Stinking Old Ninth”) in society according to Maoist theory (or possibly that of the Gang of Four).
The following was written by Navya Saitala for iFeminist and is republished with permission.
Tu Youyou was born on December 30, 1930, in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China. She was her family’s only daughter and had four brothers. Her father, Tu Liangui, was a banker, and her mother, Yao Zhongqian, was a housewife. Throughout her childhood, her family stressed the importance of education, despite her being a girl growing up in a time when it was uncommon for women to receive schooling, much less upper-level education. That way, Youyou’s parents ensured that she received a good education from primary school to university, defying the odds of girls not getting an education in this period.
Throughout her schooling, she attended the most prestigious institutions in the region, such as the private Ningbo Chongde Primary School, Ningbo Maoxi Primary School, Ningbo Qizheng Middle School, and Ningbo Yongjiang Girls’ School. Sadly, at the age of 16, Youyou contracted tuberculosis, inhibiting her from attending school for two years. Nonetheless, she maintained and excelled in her education, attending the private Ningbo Xiaoshi High School and Ningbo High School.
After her secondary schooling, due to her excellent grades and interest in tuberculosis, she continued her education in medical research. From 1951 to 1955, Youyou attended the world-renowned Department of Pharmacy of the Medical School of Peking University for the pharmacy major, known today as the independent Beijing Medical College. However, despite being well-educated and attending a respected university, Youyou was looked down upon for pursuing the field of chemistry and pharmaceuticals because of her gender. Still, she continued her passion and career in the field.
In 1965, she was the Chief Scientist at the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica under the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This job was her first and only, as she continues working there nowadays. Through this job, she procured countless chemistry research, enough so that the Chinese government tasked her with finding a malaria cure. Thus, in 1969, she led a team of chemistry and pharmaceutical researchers in a project known as Project 523 to successfully produce a cure for malaria. She and her team battled the stigma of using traditional Chinese techniques to create a cure, with the belief that modern medicine was the future. Although most of her life was dedicated to research, Youyou married Li Tingzhao, a former classmate and factory worker, in 1963 and had two daughters.
Youyou studied ancient Chinese dynasty medical tests to find a traditional cure for malaria until 1971. Then, after years of tests, research, and more than 190 failed attempts, Youyou and her team successfully extracted and isolated the antimalarial substance of qinghaosu, also known as artemisinin, from the plant Artemisia or Sweet Wormwood as a cure for malaria. As a result, Youyou discovered that this natural drug inhibits the malaria parasite, making it a traditional solution to malaria.To test her hypothesis, Youyou bravely volunteered to be the first human test subject for the drug. This testing proved her hypothesis correct, and she was able to save millions of lives from malaria.
Due to her successful findings, Youyou was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. She became the first mainland Chinese scientist to receive a Nobel Prize without foreign training, education, or medical degrees. Hence, Youyou is continuing her legacy as the Chief Scientist at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Currently, Youyou, at the age of 93, has settled in Beijing with her two daughters and husband, and is a representative of the first generation of Chinese medical workers after the formation of the People’s Republic of China (est. 1949).
Tu Youyou has paved the way for both Asians, specifically Asian women, in modern medicine. Her discovery of a traditional cure for malaria led her to become the first Chinese woman to win a Nobel Prize, creating a path for women of color to be recognized for their contributions to science and medicine. She became a symbol of success and determination for women in a male-dominated field, encouraging more women to pursue careers in STEM. In addition, despite growing up in an era where women had limited educational opportunities, she overcame institutional barriers and excelled in her studies and her work, proving that women deserve to have equitable educations to help them thrive. Overall, Youyou has been a role model for female scientists globally.