20世纪 60年代，引发疟疾的疟原虫产生了抗药性，原来的特效药 “氯喹 ”失效，疟疾再次肆虐东南亚。世界各国都投入大量人力物力研发新药，却一无所获，成为世界难题。我国从1964年开始试图从中草药中寻求突破，也没有重大发现。

There was no great discovery until 1981, when Chinese scientist Tu Youyou gave a speech titled, “Chemical Research into Artemisinin,” at an international conference of the World Health Organization (WHO). The speech caused a sensation among all the delegates, as they recognized that this was a lifeline for malaria sufferers.

1981年在世界卫生组织主办的国际会议上，中国科学家屠呦呦的《青蒿素的化学研究》的发言，使与会者无不兴奋，因为疟疾病人这下有救了。

You must be wondering if this Tu Youyou was some kind of saint.

你一定会好奇，这位屠呦呦是何方圣神？

Tu Youyou (屠呦呦 ) graduated from the Medical College of Peking University as a phar-macologist.

屠呦呦毕业于北京大学医学部，是一名药学家。

In 1969, just as the research, both in China and abroad, into treating malaria had reached a dead end, the 39-year-old Tu, in order to solve this dire problem, took on the job as head of a research team into this problem.

1969年，在中外对治疗疟疾的研究都陷入困境时，39岁的屠呦呦临危受命，担任该项目的科研组长。

The first thing Tu did was interview veteran doctors of Chinese medicine and collect from them their experience and methods of treating malaria. She then arranged all the old records of the herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, focusing on those used for the treatment of malaria. She and her colleagues performed various kinds of experiments on hundreds of kinds of Chinese medicinal herbs, including artemisinin. However, the results were disappointing; even those involving artimisinin, which had been universally well regarded, were less than ideal.

屠呦呦首先走访老中医，收集治疟验方，整理研究中医药典籍，从中寻找治疟药物。她和同事对包括青蒿在内的几百种中药的提取物进行了各种实验，但结果都令人沮丧，就连普遍看好的青蒿，效果也不理想。

But later, Tu found a relevant passage in a medical treatise by Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420): “Steep a handful of artimisinin in two liters of water. Extract the juice, and have the patient drink it. This will cure malaria.” Most Chinese medicinal concoctions are to be taken after being boiled in water, but Ge Hong clearly states that the water used to steep artemisinin does not need to be boiled, and the juice is to be taken by the patient. This shows that artimisinin shuns high temperatures, which destroy its effectiveness; it needs a low temperature to work properly.

后来在东晋葛洪的《肘后备急方》中见到相应的记载。该书说 “一把青蒿，用两升水浸泡，拧出汁来，喝下去，可治疟疾。”一般中草药的服用方法都是用水煎服，但葛洪却写明青蒿不用水煮，而是浸泡拧出汁来服用。这说明青蒿怕高温，在高温下有效成分就被破坏了，必须低温提取才行。

There was much wisdom in that one sentence, pointing to a brand-new direction for Tu and her research team. Finally, in 1972 an extract of artimisinin was found to be one hundred percent effective against malarial parasites!

一句话如醍醐灌顶，指明了屠呦呦团队的研究思路，终于在 1972年从青蒿中提取出抗疟的有效成分青蒿素，对疟原虫抑制率达到 100%！

How wonderful the ancients were, and how wonderful our country's scientists!

In 2000 the WHO recognized artemisinin as a leading anti-malarial drug, and promoted it worldwide. From 2000 to 2015, the global ratio of deaths from malaria dropped by sixty percent. As the leading anti-malarial drug, artemisinin demonstrated that it had a great role to play.

在青蒿素问世和推广前，全世界每年约有 4亿人次感染疟疾，至少有 100万人死于此病。2000年，世界卫生组织把青蒿素类药物作为首选抗疟药物，在全球推广。2000年至 2015年期间，全球疟疾死亡率下降了 60%，青蒿素类药物作为治疗疟疾的主导药物，发挥了相当大的作用。

Beginning at the age of 39, Tu devoted her life to artemisinin research. In 2015, at the age of 85, she received a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which was the first time for a Chinese scientist to win a Nobel Prize.

从39岁开始，屠呦呦一生都在研究青蒿素。2015年，85岁的屠呦呦获诺贝尔生理学或医学奖，实现了中国科学家诺贝尔奖零的突破。

How did Tu manage to attain such a great achievement? You probably have the answer to that already: You reap what you sow. If you don't give up easily in the face of difficulties, you may make progress and start to see a glimmer of starlight. As the saying goes,“It's always darkest just before the dawn.”

屠呦呦为什么获得这么大成就？相信你已经有了答案，一分耕耘一分收获，在艰难的时候不要轻易放弃，也许你再往前走，就能看见点点星光，柳暗花明。

来源| 《用英语讲中国故事》返回搜狐，查看更多