Surname 1
Name
Institution Affiliation
Course Code
Instructor Name
Date
Women Scientists
At the age of 39 years, Youyou Tu was appointed by the Chinese government to lead the
1969 project 523 to research the effects of malaria in Hainan Island, Southern China. During her
expeditions, she was devastated by the rising death toll caused by malaria in the rainforest. After
returning to Beijing, her team evaluated traditional Chinese medicinal texts where they stumbled
upon writings on Sweet wormwood plant used to treat a symptom of malaria called intermittent
fevers. Youyou and two of her colleagues tested the compound's effectiveness on themselves
before testing on 21 patients from Hainan province. Everyone recovered, and the active
ingredient, Artemisinin, was revealed to the world. Despite its validity, it took two decades for
the WHO to recommend Artemisinin, a gift bestowed by traditional Chinese medicine, as the
first defense against malaria. Youyou didn't want fame, but she accepted the 2015 Physiology
Nobel Prize for discovering Artemisinin.
In her early neuroscientist years, May-Britt Moser was persistent in understanding brain
functioning on a cellular level. Around 1980, May-Britt joined Oslo University to study
psychology, where she met Edvard Moser. In 1995, the couple earned their PhDs in
neurophysiology, where they proceeded to London University College to work on sense of
direction and positioning in rats. With the help of neuroscientist John O'Keefe's discovery that a
group of neurons in hippocampus fired when rats were in certain places of the maze, they could
map the exact spots from where each neuron fired. This finding led to the discovery of a pattern
resembling the space the rat was navigating. These cells were called grid cells that further led to
border cells discovery which give the brain a sense of positioning and direction. In 2014, Edvard
Moser, John O'Keefe and 51 year old May Britt, received the Physiology or Medicine Nobel
prize
Chromosomes are important carriers of genetic information. In 2009, the Nobel Prize in
Medicine or Physiology was presented to Carol W. Greider and Elizabeth H. Blackburn, and
Zack W. Szostak for the revelation that telomeres and the enzyme telomerase protect
chromosomes. Elizabeth Blackburn discovered a repeated DNA sequence, CCCCAA, at the end
of Tetrahymena, a unicellular organism, during her early research phase. Jack Szostak assisted
her in further experimentation after she presented her work at a conference in 1980. The two
managed to identify the sequence as telomere DNA that protects chromosomes of even different
species. Carol Greider joined Blackburn, her supervisor, in the investigation of the formation of
telomere DNA where Greider found that some cell extracts demonstrate enzymatic activity in
1984. The enzyme found was later referred as telomerase. Further studies have enabled
discovery of other uses of telomeres, such as ensuring proper copying of DNA in the
chromosomes.
In 1974, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi was awarded her Ph.D. dissertation on "An Analysis of
the Use of Synthetic Molecules that Inhibit Reverse Transcriptase Control on Friend Virus
Name
Institution Affiliation
Course Code
Instructor Name
Date
Women Scientists
At the age of 39 years, Youyou Tu was appointed by the Chinese government to lead the
1969 project 523 to research the effects of malaria in Hainan Island, Southern China. During her
expeditions, she was devastated by the rising death toll caused by malaria in the rainforest. After
returning to Beijing, her team evaluated traditional Chinese medicinal texts where they stumbled
upon writings on Sweet wormwood plant used to treat a symptom of malaria called intermittent
fevers. Youyou and two of her colleagues tested the compound's effectiveness on themselves
before testing on 21 patients from Hainan province. Everyone recovered, and the active
ingredient, Artemisinin, was revealed to the world. Despite its validity, it took two decades for
the WHO to recommend Artemisinin, a gift bestowed by traditional Chinese medicine, as the
first defense against malaria. Youyou didn't want fame, but she accepted the 2015 Physiology
Nobel Prize for discovering Artemisinin.
In her early neuroscientist years, May-Britt Moser was persistent in understanding brain
functioning on a cellular level. Around 1980, May-Britt joined Oslo University to study
psychology, where she met Edvard Moser. In 1995, the couple earned their PhDs in
neurophysiology, where they proceeded to London University College to work on sense of
direction and positioning in rats. With the help of neuroscientist John O'Keefe's discovery that a
group of neurons in hippocampus fired when rats were in certain places of the maze, they could
map the exact spots from where each neuron fired. This finding led to the discovery of a pattern
resembling the space the rat was navigating. These cells were called grid cells that further led to
border cells discovery which give the brain a sense of positioning and direction. In 2014, Edvard
Moser, John O'Keefe and 51 year old May Britt, received the Physiology or Medicine Nobel
prize
Chromosomes are important carriers of genetic information. In 2009, the Nobel Prize in
Medicine or Physiology was presented to Carol W. Greider and Elizabeth H. Blackburn, and
Zack W. Szostak for the revelation that telomeres and the enzyme telomerase protect
chromosomes. Elizabeth Blackburn discovered a repeated DNA sequence, CCCCAA, at the end
of Tetrahymena, a unicellular organism, during her early research phase. Jack Szostak assisted
her in further experimentation after she presented her work at a conference in 1980. The two
managed to identify the sequence as telomere DNA that protects chromosomes of even different
species. Carol Greider joined Blackburn, her supervisor, in the investigation of the formation of
telomere DNA where Greider found that some cell extracts demonstrate enzymatic activity in
1984. The enzyme found was later referred as telomerase. Further studies have enabled
discovery of other uses of telomeres, such as ensuring proper copying of DNA in the
chromosomes.
In 1974, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi was awarded her Ph.D. dissertation on "An Analysis of
the Use of Synthetic Molecules that Inhibit Reverse Transcriptase Control on Friend Virus
