the active chemical components of the cinchona plant were not isolated by chemists until 1920. By the 20th Century, the main supply of cinchona trees had shifted to plantations in the Dutch East Indies, a geographical displacement that would cause problems for America in WWII (see below)8. Racing to develop antimalarial compounds at this time, German chemists developed a drug named Resochin that would late be known as the popular pharmacologic agent chloroquine8.

World War II: Quinine Shortage and Wartime Research

As previously noted, the major source of cinchona trees had moved to the Dutch East Indies by the early 20th century. With the expansion of the Japanese Empire during WWII, Americans suffered from a lack of antimalarial drugs while fighting in the South Pacific, a region in which the disease was a major threat12. To combat this shortage, a campaign to collect quinine supplies scattered around the United States began in 1942. This period was also notable for the emergenc