Mao and Artemisinin

choi

Donald G McNeil Jr, For Intrigue, Malaria Drug Gets the Prize. New York Times, Jan 17, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/1 ... gets-the-prize.html

Quote:

(a) "few people realize that in one of the paradoxes of history, the drug was discovered thanks to Mao Zedong, who was acting to help the North Vietnamese in their jungle war against the Americans. Or that it languished for 30 years thanks to China’s isolation and the indifference of Western donors, health agencies and drug companies.

(b) "Patent law had vanished under communism, and China never took out Western patents, so there was no way a major drug company could get a monopoly and make big profits. Malaria was a disease of the poor, and today’s big donor funds did not exist.

(c) "With that victory, surviving Project 523 scientists and some outsiders began vying for credit. In 1996, a Hong Kong science foundation recognized 10 team leaders. In 2009, Zhou Yiqing got the European Patent Office’s 'Inventors of the Year' award for Coartem.

"In September, the $250,000 Lasker Award for clinical medical research was given to Dr Tu Youyou, former chief of the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica in Beijing. The Lasker committee named her 'the discoverer of artemisinin.'

"Some Chinese and Western malariologists were outraged.

Note:
(a)The drug artemisinin is extracted from leaf of the plant Artemisia annua (annual wormwood).
(b) mefloquine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mefloquine
(a synthetic analogue of quinine; still widely available; Rare but serious neuropsychiatric problems have been associated with its use)
(c)
(i)
scuttlebug (n; alteration of scuttled butt "butt with a hole cut into it"; First Known Use circa 1805):
"1a : a cask on shipboard to contain freshwater for a day's use
b : a drinking fountain on a ship or at a naval or marine installation
2: RUMOR, GOSSIP"
www.m-w.com
(ii) Origins of Navy Terminology. US Navy, undated.
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/traditions/html/navyterm.html
(scuttlebutt, with an illustration to to right of the definition)
(d) The "waggle" in "waggled his way" is a traisitive verb that means:
"to make or get by devious means : FINAGLE <wangle an invitation>"
(e) The "head-to-head" in "head-to-head trials" is an adjective that means:
"in a direct confrontation or encounter usually between individuals"