Nobel Prize a boost to TCM

There are many things significant about China's Dr Tu Youyou's win of the Nobel Prize in medicine ("3 scientists share Nobel Prize in medicine"; Tuesday).

Besides being the first woman Chinese national to win a Nobel Prize in science, she is also the first Chinese national educated entirely in China and conducting research in a Chinese institution to win the prize in science.

Previous Chinese nationals who did so conducted their research in foreign institutions.

This is an important milestone for Chinese science. Dr Tu's achievement should be an encouragement to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) universities that have struggled to gain world recognition for their scientific work.

Hong Hai (Dr)

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 08, 2015, with the headline Nobel Prize a boost to TCM. Subscribe