A senior Indian scientist has challenged the ground on which this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine was given to Chinese scientist Tu Youyou for the discovery of Artemisinin, an active compound extracted from a medicinal plant called Artemisia Annua that is used for treating Malaria.
Dr Sunil Kumar Verma, a principal scientist at the Hyderabad-based Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), has claimed that the plant extract was traditionally used in India against Malaria and it was mentioned in scientific literature published over 100 years ago.
Citing a book titled Indian Medicinal Plants and published in 1918 by Lieutenant-Colonel K R Kirtikar and Major B D Basu, the scientist said it contained elaborate description of the species of the plant “Artemisia” found in India and the method of extracting “Artemisin” from the plant was also described. Details