Fun Facts About Tu Youyou
- Tu Youyou volunteered to be the first human test subject for her own malaria drug, explaining that as head of the research group, she had the responsibility.[1]
- Tu said she was inspired by a 1,600-year-old Chinese herbal text that said to steep the herb in cold water; she found a low-temperature extraction could isolate the malaria-fighting substance.[1]
- Tu's malaria research was part of Project 523, a secret drug project set up after North Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh asked China for help with malaria among his soldiers.[1][3][4]
- Tu's father took her name, Youyou, from a line in the ancient Book of Odes about deer eating wild Hao, a link to the qinghao plant that she called an interesting coincidence.[1]
- Tu is known as the "Three-Without Scientist": she had no postgraduate degree, no research experience abroad, and no membership in China's national academies.[1]
- Tu's artemisinin work was first published anonymously, in 1977, and she accidentally created dihydroartemisinin in 1973 while studying the molecule's structure.[1]
- Tu Youyou was alive at the same time as Volodymyr Zelenskyy — their lives overlapped for 48 years (1978–present).[1][2][5][6]
- Tu Youyou shares a birthday with Rudyard Kipling: both were born on December 30.[1][2][7][8]
Tu Youyou is a Nobel Prize-winning Chinese malariologist and pharmaceutical chemist. She discovered artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin, used to treat malaria, a breakthrough in twentieth-century tropical medicine, saving millions of lives in South China, Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America.[1]
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Questions About Tu Youyou
When was Tu Youyou born?
Tu Youyou was born on December 30, 1930, and is alive today.
How old is Tu Youyou?
Tu Youyou was born on December 30, 1930, and turns 96 on December 30, 2026.
What is Tu Youyou known for?
Tu Youyou is known for: Discovered artemisinin, Nobel Prize in Medicine. Tu Youyou is a Nobel Prize-winning Chinese malariologist and pharmaceutical chemist. She discovered artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin, used to treat malaria, a breakthrough in twentieth-century tropical medicine, saving millions of lives in South China, Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America.
Who was alive at the same time as Tu Youyou?
Tu Youyou's closest contemporary was Noam Chomsky. Their lives overlapped for 96 years.
Sources
- Tu Youyou — Wikipedia. Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Tu Youyou (Q462843) — Wikidata
- Ho Chi Minh — Wikipedia
- Ho Chi Minh (Q36014) — Wikidata
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy — Wikipedia
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Q3874799) — Wikidata
- Rudyard Kipling — Wikipedia
- Rudyard Kipling (Q34743) — Wikidata
- Portrait: D810 4987 Tu Youyou, medicine (22945001843) (cropped).jpg — Wikimedia Commons. Bengt Nyman from Vaxholm, Sweden, CC BY 2.0