Qinghao (Artemisia annua) for intermittent fevers

What was discovered

Ge Hong's emergency handbook advises soaking a handful of qinghao in cold water, wringing it out and drinking the juice against malarial fevers. That cold-extraction preparation inspired the extraction of artemisinin in 1971.

The same handbook recommends seaweed against goitre, an empirical use of iodine.

What it led to

• traditional use of Artemisia in Chinese medicine
• clue for the low-temperature extraction of artemisinin

Made possible

• Artemisinin1971-1972

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