Description
It’s the new weapon against malaria. The chemical called artemisinin, which is extracted from the ginghao plant, is providing new hope for millions of malaria sufferers.
The chemical developed by China for use by the Vietcong in the Vietnam War to fight malaria is providing new hope for million of malaria sufferers.
The plant is grown in vast quantities in China and could do much to fight malaria. Particularly in Africa, like in Burkina Faso where we meet the patients that will benefit.
But the yield from the plant is too low and generating quantities to meet demand could be tricky. This is where scientists at Edinburgh University in the UK come in. They have been developing a technique to engineer a variety of the plant with much higher yields.
This film is one of 57 x 25-minute documentaries produced for the BBC in the multiple series KILL OR CURE. These films can be bought individually or as a series.