Methods used in increasing yield for the production of amorphadiene and artemisinic acid, precursor to anti-malarial drug, artemisinin : a review paper.

Abstract

Malaria has been one of the leading causes of death primarily in children in the tropical developing countries. WHO has issued the first line treatment to malaria as the artemisinin-combination therapy (ACT) where artemisinin is used in conjunction of anti-malarial drug to treat malaria. However the high cost of artemisinin due to the low availability has rendered a lot of patients not being able to use such treatment. This triggers a lot of scientists to look into lowering the cost of artemisinin using metabolic engineering. This paper focuses on the developmental effort of scientists in increasing the yield of amorphadiene and artemisinic acid, which are precursors to artemisinin, using various strategies in metabolic engineering, in an attempt to provide seasonless, affordable and continuous supply of artemisinin to the world.