Tuyển tập các báo cáo nghiên cứu về sinh học được đăng trên tạp chí sinh học Journal of Biology đề tài: The future of artemisinins: natural, synthetic or recombinant? | Journal of Biology BioMed Central Minireview The future of artemisinins natural synthetic or recombinant Marcel Hommel Address Institut Pasteur 25-28 rue du Dr Roux Paris 75724 Cedex 15 France. Email mhommel@ Published 15 December 2008 Journal of Biology 2008 7 38 doi jbiol101 The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at http content 7 10 38 2008 BioMed Central Ltd Abstract Artemisinins are the most important anti-malarial drugs in use today but are more costly than previous anti-malarials and production and price tend to fluctuate. Alternative ways of producing artemisinins are discussed here in the light of a recent paper in BMC Biotechnology on improving the yield of the precursor artemisinic acid in genetically engineered yeast. Artemisinin derived from sweet wormwood Artemisia annua is the spearhead of anti-malarial chemotherapy. In 2004 the World Health Organization WHO recommendation that artemisinin-based combination therapy ACT should be the norm for the treatment of falciparum malaria in most endemic countries came into effect 1 . Financial backing for this treatment from the Global Fund for AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria and other international sponsors has led to a massive increase in the demand for artemisinin but with an estimated 12-14 months lead-time from planting of A. annua to artemisinin extraction stepping-up production or adjusting to fluctuations in demand from the plant is not simple and alternative means of producing the raw material by complete chemical synthesis or recombinant technologies are being explored. It would however be naive to believe that the cost of the raw material is the main determinant of the cost of a drug. This article looks at issues surrounding the production of artemisinins particularly in the light of a recent paper by Jay Keasling and colleagues Ro et al. 2 in BMC Biotechnology which describes a way of improving the yield of the precursor .
