Título: Tu Youyou
Seção: Background
Background: Tu Youyou (Chinese: Tu You You ; pinyin: Tu Youyou; born 30 December 1930) is a Chinese pharmaceutical chemist and educator. She is best known for discovering artemisinin (also known as qinghaosu) and dihydroartemisinin, used to treat malaria, which has saved millions of lives.

Conteúdo: Tu Youyou carried on her work in the 1960s and 70s during China's Cultural Revolution, when scientists were denigrated as one of the nine black categories in society according to Maoist theory (or possibly that of the Gang of Four).  In 1967, during the Vietnam War, Ho Chi Minh, the leader of North Vietnam, which was at war against South Vietnam and the United States, asked Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai for help in developing a malaria treatment for his soldiers trooping down the Ho Chi Minh trail, where a majority came down with a form of malaria which is resistant to chloroquine. Because malaria was also a major cause of death in China's southern provinces including Hainan, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guangdong, Zhou Enlai convinced Mao Zedong to set up a secret drug discovery project, named Project 523 after its starting date, 23 May 1967. Upon joining the project unit, Tu was initially sent to Hainan where she studied patients who had been infected with the disease. During the time she spent there, her husband was banished to the countryside, meaning that her daughter had to be entrusted to a nursery in Beijing.  Scientists worldwide had screened over 240,000 compounds without success. In 1969, Tu Youyou, then 39 years old, had an idea of screening Chinese herbs. She first investigated the Chinese medical classics in history, visiting practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine all over the country on her own. She gathered her findings in a notebook called A Collection of Single 

user: What did she do

assistant: Tu Youyou carried on her work in the 1960s and 70s during China's Cultural Revolution,

user: What was bad about this

assistant: when scientists were denigrated as one of the nine black categories in society according to Maoist theory (or possibly that of the Gang of Four

user: What did she do during the Vietnam War

assistant: Upon joining the project unit, Tu was initially sent to Hainan where she studied patients who had been infected with the disease.

user: What happend to her husband during this time

assistant: During the time she spent there, her husband was banished to the countryside, meaning that her daughter had to be entrusted to a nursery in Beijing.

user: What idea did she have

assistant: had an idea of screening Chinese herbs. She first investigated the Chinese medical classics in history, visiting practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine all over the country on her own.

user: What year and how old was she at this time

assistant: 1969, Tu Youyou, then 39 years old,

user: What did she do with her findings

assistant: gathered her findings in a notebook called A Collection of Single Practical Prescriptions for Anti-Malaria.

user: What did this help with

assistant: Her notebook summarized 640 prescriptions. Her team also screened over 2,000 traditional Chinese recipes and made 380 herbal extracts, which were tested on mice.