Sweet wormwood, Artemisia annua, is the sole source of a potent antimalarial compound called artemisinin. The drug is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a treatment for malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum, but supply is currently well below demand.
Now, researchers in China have for the first time published a high-quality genome sequence for A. annua, and genetically modified the plant to produce much higher levels of artemisinin. The results were published yesterday (April 24) in Molecular Plant.
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