18/11/2022
The authors hope that the recovery of Jianzhen's lost prescriptions will lead to the discovery of new useful organic compounds for modern medicines. For instance, the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine honored research into soil microorganisms that led to the development of ivermectin as a treatment for river blindness and elephantiasis, especially in Africa. Another of the 2015 Nobel laureates, You-you Tu, found a traditional Chinese herb and isolated its active component into an anti-malarial drug (artemisinin). "Therefore, traditional Chinese medicine may serve as a huge drug resource library," the authors wrote.
The surviving 766 prescriptions include recipes for soups, powders, pills, and ointments