Traditional Chinese medicine important functions

Artemisinin is used here as an example of a plant sesquiterpenoid with both traditional value as well as with medicinal and social value in the twenty-first century. Research on artemisinin has also established new benchmarks for biochemical engineering and functional genomics of plant terpenoids. Artemisinin is a functionalized sesquiterpene with a unique peroxide linkage from the sweet wormwood Artemisia annua). Chinese herbalists have used it since ancient times, and it is now used for its unique efficacy to treat multidrug-resistant strains of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Its medicinal importance has prompted studies into its biosynthesis and its biochemical engineering so that cost-effective methods for producing it in large scale and in consistent quality may be realized. 

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