1. Artemisinin
Artemisinin

2. isolated from plant Artemisia annua, or sweet wormwood

3. History
200 BC：First recorded in the Fifty-two prescriptions found in Han Dynasty tomb

4. History
200 B.C.：First recorded in the Fifty-two prescriptions found in Han Dynasty tomb
340 A.D.: Application for malaria first described in The Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies

5. History
200 B.C.：First recorded in the Fifty-two prescriptions found in Han Dynasty tomb
340 A.D.: The Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies
1972: Tu Youyou discovered artemisinin in the leaves of Artemisia annua

6. Malaria
Mosquito-borne disease caused by prostists of genus plasmodium

7. Malaria
Mosquito-borne disease caused by Prostists of the genus of plasmodium
Kills more than 600,000 people every year
- 90% of them are children

8. Artemisinin and its derivatives are proofed effective against malaria caused by protist Plasmodium falciparum
Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACTs) are now standard treatment worldwide for plasmodium falciparum malaria.

9. HOWEVER

10. SO....... Supply of plant-derived artemisinin is highly unstable
$1-2.5/treatment. People in developing world cannot afford the treatments SO

11. A stable source of affordable artemisinin is required.

12. In 2006, Prossfer Jay D Keasling and his team reported that they had engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast to produce small amount of artemisinic acid which is the precursor of artemisinin and can be purified and chemically converted into artemisnin.

13. Current Process Artemisinin Purification Chemical Conversion
Artemisia Annua
Chemical Conversion
Artemether
Arteether
Artesunate
Artelinate

14. Microbial Process Purification Chemical Conversion
Artemisinin Acid
Purification
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Chemical Conversion
Artemether
Arteether
Artesunate
Artelinate

15. References