The discovery of artemisinin has helped significantly reduce the mortality rates of malaria patients.

素的发现极大地降低了疟疾患者的死亡率。

Tu's research led to the manmade drug artemisinin, a drug now widely used to treat malaria.

屠呦呦的研究引发了人造药物素，这种药物现已广泛用于治疗疟疾。

Now, artemisinin can be toxic to human cells, too, for the same reason.

不，素也会对人体细胞产生毒性，也是出于同样的原因。

And when artemisinin encounters hemozoin, the two compounds react to create unstable atoms known as free radicals.

当素遇到疟原虫色素时，这两种化合物会发生反应，产生被称为自由基的不稳定原子。

But luckily, artemisinin reacts more readily with hemozoin, than it does with the iron in our cells.

但幸运的是，素与疟原虫色素的反应比与我们细胞中的铁反应更容易。

As it turned out, the key to this life-saving cure was an active compound from the wormwood plant called artemisinin.

事实证明，这种救命疗法的关键是一种来自艾草植物的活性化合物，素。

Tu Youyou is a Chinese scientist who managed to extract artemisinin from a Chinese herb.

屠呦呦是一位中国科学家， 他成功地从中草药中提取了素。

She was, of course, recognized for her discovery of artemisinin, the powerful medicine used to treat malaria.

当然，她因发现用于治疗疟疾的强效药物素而受到认可。

Plus, the chemistry of artemisinin is finicky, so only plant cells are really good at making it.

此外，素的化学成分非常复杂，因此只有植物细胞才能真正擅长制造它。

To be clear, these aren’t the first scientists to try and make artemisinin in different plants.

需要明确的是，这些并不是第一批尝试在不同植物中制造素的科学家。

New malaria drugs will be needed. The World Health Organization warns the parasites are building a resistance to the main anti-malarial compound artemisinin.

目前需要新的疟疾药物，世卫组织警告说，这些寄生虫在对主要的抗疟疾化合物素产生抗性。

Today, artemisinin is still distilled from the dried leaves or flower clusters of the sweet wormwood plant and used to treat malaria.

今天，素仍然是从苦艾植物的干叶子或花簇中蒸馏出来，用于治疗疟疾。

Laboratory experiments have shown that the parasite which is resistant to the most effective anti-malaria drug artemisinin is able to infect different mosquito species.

实验证明，这种对素有抗药性的疟原虫也能够感染其他品种蚊子。

One of the most effective treatments today is a drug called artemisinin, which quickly binds to important proteins in the parasite, and kills it.

当今最有效的治疗方法之一是一种名为素的药物，它可以迅速与寄生虫中的重要蛋白质结合并将其杀死。

In fact, two decades after Tu's discovery, the World Health Organization recommended that artemisinin be used in combination with other drugs as the first line of defense against malaria.

事实上，在屠呦呦的发现 20 年后，世卫组织建议素与其他药物联合使用，作为对抗疟疾的第一道防线。

Now, this week in a study in the journal Molecular Plant, Indian and American researchers have made the drug much easier to get, by genetically engineering tobacco plants to make artemisinin.

现在，本周在《分子植物》杂志上发表的一项研究中，印度和美国的研究人员通对烟草植物进行基因工程以制造素， 使这种药物更容易获得。

To achieve the goal of global eradication, we need to build on Professor Tu’s discovery of artemisinin and develop more powerful tools – like a single-dose cure and better ways to block transmission of malaria from mosquitos to humans.

为实现全球根除疟疾的目标， 我们需要以屠教授发现的素为基础， 开发更强大的工具—— 例如单剂量疗法和更好的方法来阻止疟疾从蚊子传播给人类。