Making Malaria Medicine Cheap And Fast

A number of experts in the United States and Canada claim to have managed to find a malaria medicines manufacturing process is cheaper and faster. They claim that this way is more efficient and better than extract artemisinin from the plant. The researchers found a way to make artemisinin, the main content in some malaria medicines by using yeast, genes, and fermentation.

Researchers from OneWorld Health, Amyris, Unversity of California at Berkeley, and the Canadian government, to identify genes that produce artemisinin at generating plants. Then they tried the gene in yeast and make them artemisinin in the lab.


"This technique makes more production doubled and faster,"explained the researchers.

Minister of science and technology Gary Goodyear Canada said that these developments represent a major advancement in the fight against the disease. "Reaffirming Canada's position as a provider of health solutions that reliably and inexpensively," said Goodyear told The Star Phoenix.

Plants that produce artemisinin growing in Africa and Asia. However, this plant is difficult to be maintained so that maintenance costs soar. In addition, artemisinin-producing plants have an annual production cycle so that the risk is very high malaria medicine shortage.