2019年CRI 共和国奖章获得者——屠呦呦（在线收听）

Tu youyou won the 2015 Nobel Prize for the discovery of artemisinin, a drug that is now the top treatment for malaria. Tu has risked her life in her dedication to finding a cure for malaria. For decades, she worked almost anonymously before winning the Nobel Prize in 2015.

"Ancient Chinese medicine has valuable treasure. We should work hard to tap into the rich resources in it. Artimisinin was discovered from it. Through research, I find that Chinese medicine and western medicine each has its own advantages and can be complementary to each other. Proper combination of the two will generate bigger potentials in medical development."

Born in 1930, Tu Youyou suffered from a lung disease when she was young, but Chinese medicine saved her life. She developed a keen interest in traditional Chinese medicine, dedicating her life to being a pharmacologist.

She started her work at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and later served as head of the "Anti-malarial Chinese Herbal Medicine Group." The researcher and her team helped isolate an anti-malaria medicine inspired by an ancient, traditional remedy. The discovery of artemisinin has helped significantly reduce the mortality rates of malaria patients.

A Nobel committee judge pointed out the significance of her work.

"Your discoveries represent a paradigm shift in medicine, which has not only provided revolutionary therapies for patients suffering from devastating parasitic diseases, but also promoted well-being and prosperity for individuals and society. The global impact of your discoveries and the resulting benefit to mankind are immeasurable."

The achievement didn't come easy. Tu explains that her discoveries were made after years of repeated tries and failures.

"I experimented on over 200 kinds of Chinese medicines and I tried about 380 extraction methods in total. They all failed. I named my starting point as No.91, because I found the effective component after 191 experiments."

To ensure that the drug would be safe in humans, at one time Tu even tested the medicine on her own.

"I was determined to find the effects of the medicine that year. I made a report to ask for permission to test the drug on myself. I was the team leader and took the responsibility. Some of my colleagues also participated in the program. We went into Dongzhimen Hospital for the test."

Jiang Tingliang is former President of the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica of the Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. He says he was impressed by Tu's strong determination in conducting her research.

"I was impressed by her persistence in her work and scientific research without which, she couldn't have made such remarkable achievements. She'd been persistent from the very beginning."

Dr. Ma Yue works at the Artemimsinin research center of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. She says she feels really proud of her teacher and is inspired by her achievements.

"It was several years ago that I first met with professor Tu. She looked like a kind granny. I was astonished at her achievements when she was awarded the Noble prize. Professor Tu's doctoral students tended to draw attention. So I had to work harder. My professor has spent her whole life doing research. I should learn from her down-to-earth method."

Tu Youyou also won China's top science award in 2017 for her outstanding contributions to scientific and technological innovation. But she didn't rest on her laurels after winning these awards. She continued to work at perfecting her discoveries. The 89-year-old announced in June that her team has proposed solutions to the problem of artemisinin resistance, providing new evidence that artemisinin is still "the best weapon" against malaria, the world's No. 1 insect-borne infectious disease.

For CRI, this is Guo Yan.

屠呦呦因发现青蒿素而获得了2015年诺贝尔奖，青蒿素是目前用于治疗疟疾的首选药物。屠呦呦冒着生命危险竭尽全力寻找治愈疟疾的方法。几十年来，她几乎默默无闻地工作，直到2015年获得诺贝尔奖。

“中国医药学是一个伟大宝库，应当努力发掘，加以提高。青蒿素正是从这一宝库中发掘出来的。通过抗疟药青蒿素的研究经历，深感中西医药各有所长，二者有机结合，优势互补，当具有更大的开发潜力和良好的发展前景。”

屠呦呦出生于1930年，幼时患有肺部疾病，但中药挽救了她的生命。她对中药产生了浓厚的兴趣，一生致力于药剂师的工作。

她第一份工作是在中国中医科学院，后来担任“抗疟中草药研究”课题组组长。研究人员和她的团队分离出一种受古代传统疗法启发的抗疟疾药物。青蒿素的发现极大地降低了疟疾患者的死亡率。

一名诺贝尔委员会评审指出了她工作的重要性。

“你们的发现意味着医学的一个范式转变，不仅仅给我们提供了革命性的新的疗法来解除蒙受着疟疾性疾病的患者的痛苦，而且促进了这些个体和社会的福祉和繁荣。你们发现的全球影响已经随之而来，对人类的受益是不可估量的。”

成就来之不易。屠呦呦解释说，她的发现是经过多年的反复尝试和失败之后才得出的。

“我做了（研究的）大概200多种中药，提取方法加起来380多种，全部没成功。开始这个部分叫做91号，因为做了191次试验才发现了有效部分。”

为了确保该药物对人体安全，屠呦呦有一次甚至亲自试药。

“这一年一定要看一看药的功效。我打个报告，我说我负责，亲自测试这种药物。所以呢，我带头，两个同志一起，我们住到东直门医院，进行测试。”

姜廷良是前中医科学院中药研究所所长。他说屠呦呦对研究的坚定决心给他留下了深刻的印象。

“她对工作和科学研究的坚持给我留下了深刻的印象，没有这种坚持，她不可能取得如此卓越的成就。她从一开始就坚持不懈。”

马悦博士在中国中医科学院青蒿素研究中心工作。她说，她为自已的老师感到非常自豪，同时也受到了她的成就的启发。

“我在几年前第一次见到屠教授。她看起来像一个和蔼的奶奶。当她被授予诺贝尔奖时，我为她的成就感到惊喜。屠教授的博士生往往会引发关注。所以我必须加倍努力。我的教授一生致力于研究。我应该学习她脚踏实地的精神。”

屠呦呦还因其对科技创新的杰出贡献而荣获2017年中国最高科学奖。但是在获得这些奖项之后，她并没有因为自已的荣誉而止步。她继续致力于完善自已的发现。这位89岁的老人在6月宣布，她的团队已提出解决青蒿素耐药性问题的方案，并提供了新的证据，表明青蒿素仍是抗击疟疾的“最佳武器”，疟疾是世界上第一种由昆虫传播的传染病。

CRI新闻，郭彦（音译）报道。