The development of artemisinin, one of the most common
treatments for malaria, is rather complex and can take up to 18 months. One
reason for that is that artemisinin is traditionally obtained from leaves of
sweet wormwood (the so-called artemesia annua). However, now a breakthrough has
been made in research where it appears that a synthetic version of artemisinin
can be produced within 3 weeks. Here we consider the implications of these
findings.
The synthetic version was engineered in labs that specialise
in bioengineered yeast and the reports explaining how it works were recently
published in Nature. Essentially, the
researchers used a process to artificially build DNA strands in laboratories,
which were then used to re-engineer microbes to behave as tiny factories. This
is not a novel process, and currently the Bill Gates Foundation is supporting
the development of these laboratories that are also looking into developing
other treatments.
However, the creation of synthetic artemisinin comes at a
cost of affecting farmers that grow sweet wormwood. Although artemisinin is the
treatment that is most widely recommended by the WHO, there have been problems
with the production of artemisinin in the past. These were mostly attributed to
the unstable growth of wormwood trees. As such it has resulted in production
delays and price fluctuations that have further complicated the matter. Based
on this, we can sympathise with the researchers reasoning for creating a treatment
that would be faster and more cost-efficient but equally effective.
But it is also important to remember that the use of wormwood trees should not be
obliterated. While synthetic materials may be useful, they also often tend to
be somewhat one-dimensional. Given that we already know about the risk of
malaria parasites developing resistance to treatments, we need to allow for the
option to develop flexible treatments when it is needed. Traditionally, these
tend to stem from natural components that then become converted into synthetic
versions.
A fuller version of the report can be read here.