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Summary
The Nobel Committee honoured Chinese scientist Tu Youyou’s legacy in a social media post before announcing Mary E. Brunkow as one of the winners of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
The Nobel Committee has honoured Chinese scientist Tu Youyou’s contribution to medicine in a social media post just moments before announcing Mary E. Brunkow as one of the winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
To honour her, on Oct 6, 2025, the Nobel Prize’s official X (formerly Twitter) account revealed, “Tu Youyou became the first mainland Chinese scientist to be awarded a #NobelPrize in a scientific field for discovering artemisinin, a malaria cure that’s saved millions. Today, we reveal the 2025 medicine laureate.”
The recognition came as the Committee revealed that Mary E. Brunkow, alongside Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi, had won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their pioneering discoveries in peripheral immune tolerance, a biological mechanism that prevents the immune system from attacking healthy cells.
Their research has paved new paths for treating autoimmune diseases, cancer, and transplant rejection.
In a follow-up post on its official Instagram account, the Nobel Prize Committee wrote, “Say good morning to our new medicine laureate Mary Brunkow!”
Tu Youyou, who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015, was recognised for discovering artemisinin, a compound derived from Artemisia annua (sweet wormwood) that revolutionised malaria treatment and saved millions of lives globally.
