Tu Youyou, who won the Nobel Prize, is no longer what it used to be. She has become the brightest academic star in the country. However, there are still some controversies about Tu Youyou's Nobel Prize. There is also a lot of controversy about artemisinin.
We have already said a lot about the controversy over Tu Youyou, so I won't be verbose here.
Let's talk about the controversy over artemisinin. This controversy is also divided into two situations. First, whether artemisinin is Tu Youyou's own "work" or not. We've talked about this before, and we're not going to dwell on it anymore.
Second, whether artemisinin is a traditional Chinese medicine or a Western medicine. This question must be demonstrated. If you want to say that it is a traditional Chinese medicine, then how can it win the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prize is a Western thing. Artemisinin was able to win the Nobel Prize because Westerners do not see it as traditional Chinese medicine, but only as Western medicine. It is precisely because Westerners do not recognize artemisinin as traditional Chinese medicine that this is the premise for Tu Youyou to win the Nobel Prize.
If you ask Tu Youyou whether artemisinin is a traditional Chinese medicine or a Western medicine, she may not be able to answer herself, she may say that artemisinin is a chemical substance extracted from the herbs of traditional Chinese medicine using the method of Western medicine. You say it's a traditional Chinese medicine, or a Western medicine, anyway, it's a very effective drug for malaria.
If you want to ask us ordinary people, I believe that as long as it is Chinese, they are willing to say that artemisinin is a traditional Chinese medicine, but they are not willing to say that it is a Western medicine. After all, Tu Youyou herself is a researcher of traditional Chinese medicine, and she has been engaged in the research of Chinese medicinal materials.
However, she was able to win the Nobel Prize not because artemisinin is a useful chemical extracted from traditional Chinese medicine. Mainly because this chemical is so useful and has saved millions of African lives. It is precisely because of this that Tu Youyou is eligible to win the Nobel Prize.
Opinion: In fact, there is no point in arguing whether artemisinin is a traditional Chinese medicine or a Western medicine. Since the introduction of Western medicine into China, traditional medicine has undergone great changes. Especially in the production of traditional Chinese medicine, it can be said that there has been a sea change.
It's hard for us to eat the original Chinese medicine anymore. The Chinese medicine we eat now is basically a medicine that purifies the Chinese medicine using the methods of Western medicine. In fact, for us ordinary people, there is really no need to care about this matter, as long as it can cure our disease, whether it is Western medicine or Chinese medicine, we can buy it.