Yearender 2015: Ten most talked-about newsmakers

Editor's Note: Some noticeable figures made the year 2015 truly special. From high-ranking officials to sports stars, from prize winners to environmentalist, let's trace their ups and downs, joys and sorrows.

China's Tu Youyou (R) who won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, gives a lecture in Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, capital of Sweden, Dec 7, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

Winner: Tu Youyou

The 85-year-old Chinese scientist Tu Youyou on Oct 5 won the Nobel Prize for a therapy that is extracted from a TCM herb known as sweet wormwood and is now used globally to treat malaria. She is the first Chinese national to win a Nobel for medicine, and the first Chinese woman to win any Nobel.

The honor opened a new debate on traditional Chinese medicine, and reminded us that modern medical science depends on inspiration from every possible source.