therapeutic drugs

Untold Secrets of Healing Forests

Tens of thousands of unexplored forest plants may hold the key to new therapeutic drugs for curing a planet rocked by pandemics and new diseases.

They called it Project 523 after its start date, 23 May, 1967. Back then, it was classified as a top-secret state mission, blessed by Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. The Vietnam War was in full swing, and China’s ally Ho Chi Minh, the Prime Minister of North Vietnam, was losing large numbers of soldiers to malaria. He petitioned China to help find a cure for it.

About 600 scientists, including military personnel, scientists and practitioners of Western and traditional Chinese medicine, were convened and divided into three teams: one for conducting clinical studies, one for looking into traditional Chinese medicine and the third for developing synthetic compounds. Among their goals was a cure for chloroquine-resistant malaria.