Synthetic Biology First Malaria Drug Meets Market Resistance
There is a good news on market. Especially for medicine. That modification to a plant that makes artemisinin. The key compound used in malaria drugs. Tripled the amount of the ingredient naturally produced in leaves.There were many attempts to Artemisia annua to increase the yield of artemisinin had failed. So a scientist named Kexuan Tang has determined the genetics book.
That can be identified as three genes crucial to artemisinin production. So this modification as needed to increase the activity of these genes boosted the artemisinin level in leaves from 0.1–1 percent of their dry weight to 3.2 percent. This report was out on April 24 in Molecular Plant. There is a statistics that Malaria kills about 440,000 people worldwide every year.
So the doctors are trying hard to save the lives.
They are also trying to increase and stabilize the global supply of artemisinin. Which is a shortage due to the unstable supply? Scientists Tang says. Seeds of these modified plants have shipped to Madagascar. Which grows the most. in Africa, as part of a field trial. Akhil Vaidya is an immunologist at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He said This is a milestone paper for artemisinin says, Akhil Vaidya.
An immunologist at Drexel University in Philadelphia who was not involved in the research. Artemisinin discovered by Chinese chemist Youyou Tu in 1972. As she was investigating thousands of traditional Chinese remedies. The discovery. which has saved millions of lives. earned her the 2015 Nobel Prize in medicine. the only source of artemisinin was the sweet wormwood plant.
The invention made by Chinese scientist Youyou Tu. he also won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. There is been always a controversy of the invention of malaria. since science has progressed so much but in this sector, it lacks some progress.
