50th anniversary of artemisinin: From the discovery to allele-aware genome assembly of Artemisia annua

Abstract

Over the past half century, the fight against malaria has been a resounding success mainly due to the discovery of artemisinin. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), morbidity and mortality due to malaria have been cut by half since the promotion of artemisinin-based combination therapy (WHO, 2020). Unlike previously used antimalaria medicines, such as chloroquine and quinolines, artemisinin is a sesquiterpene lactone containing an unusual peroxy group, which is essential for its antimalaria activity.