Institut Pasteur, 25-28 rue du Dr Roux, Paris 75724 Cedex 15, France. mhommel@pasteur.fr
Artemisinins are the most important anti-malarial drugs in use today, but are more costly than previous anti-malarials and production and price tend to fluctuate. Alternative ways of producing artemisinins are discussed here in the light of a recent paper in BMC Biotechnology on improving the yield of the precursor, artemisinic acid, in genetically engineered yeast.