Modern Bioethics and Human Rights

Ⅰ Since the late 1940s, the ethical studies aimed at safeguarding human dignity to life and health security in the fields of medical and life sciences have witnessed rapid development. The main domains in this regard include the studies of medical ethics, which involve ethical issues concerning the purposes, missions, subjects, technical means, doctor-patient relations in clinical treatments and making of public health policies centering around medical activities; and the studies of bioethics, which touch upon a variety of ethical issues cropping up along with the progress and intervention of bio technologies with regard to human life and its cycles, from human reproduction, medical care, human experiments till the end of the life. In addition, there are also studies of eco-

Boost the Modernization of Human Rights Protection Systems and Endeavor to Fulfill the Chinese Dream——An Address at the Opening Ceremony of the 7th Beijing Forum on Human Rights, Sept. 17, 2014

This session of the Forum has the theme, “The Chinese Dream： New Progress in the Cause of Human Rights in China.” This theme concentrates on such important subtopics as “The Chinese Dream and Human Rights” ,

The Models of Modern Human Origins:Eastern Perspective

The origin of modern humans is one of the fundamental scientific questions that has been widely debated in the international academic community.Since the 1980s,the discussion on this issue has formed two opposing camps:the""Out of Africa"hypothesis and the"Multiregional Evolution"hypothesis.With the continuous accumulation of new materials and rapid technological advancements in the new century,there have been significant adjustments in the debate over the origin models of modern humans,with materials from the East Asia playing an increasingly important role.This article reviews the major hypotheses and models regarding the origin of modern humans and the evolution of modern behavior,tracing their sources,history,and development.It also provides a comprehensive overview of some of the latest archaeological discoveries and research progress.Furthermore,it discusses the motives and directions for adjusting the models of modern human origins and behavioral evolution,emphasizing the importance of considering a vast amount of archaeological evidence in the discussion of various models and reflecting on the cultural implications of"modernity".The article calls for increased investment in research on the origin of modern humans in China and emphasizes the need to provide a solid Eastern perspective for discussing modern human origin models.

Revisiting the origin of modern humans in China and its implications for global human evolution

The debates over the origin of modern humans have long been centered on two competing theories:the "Out-of-Africa"(single-place origin) theory and the "Multi-regional Evolution" theory.China is an extremely important region where many ancient human fossils were collected along with numerous associated faunal remains and artefacts.These cultural remains,unearthed from different areas in the country and covering a long time span,will help clarify the controversy.The study of cultural materials in China is expected to shed important light on biological evolutionary patterns and social and technical developments of those early humans as well as their environmental conditions.Based on the analysis of Chinese fossils and associated materials,in conjunction with some genetic studies,this paper aims at evaluating each of the two theories in order to stimulate more discussions.Our study suggests that the evolutionary model of "Continuity with Hybridization" is most relevant in reflecting the current understanding of human evolutionary history in China.Furthermore,we propose that the concept of regional diversity of evolutionary models should be seriously considered to illustrate different evolutionary modes applied to different parts of the world.

Y-chromosome haplotype distribution in Han Chinese populations and modern human origin in East Asians

We investigated the distribution of Y-chromosome haplotype using 19 Y-SNPs in Han Chinese populations from 22 provinces of China. Our data indicate distinctive patterns of Y chromosome between southern and northern Han Chinese populations. The southern populations are much more polymorphic than northern populations. The latter has only a subset of the southern haplotypes. This result confirms the genetic difference observed between southern and northern ethnic populations in East Asia. It supports the hypothesis that the first settlement of modern hu-mans of African origin occurred in the southern part of East Asia during the last Ice Age, and a northward migration led to the peopling of northern China.

New progress in understanding the origins of modern humans in China

Hypotheses concerning the origins of modern humans have been intensively debated, and two competing models, the recent "Out-of-Africa" and "Multiregional Evolution" paradigms, have dominated research and discussions for decades. Evidence from China has played a fundamental role in this debate: regional continuity and replacement by populations in-migrated from Africa have both been suggested and supported mainly by paleoanthropologists and geneticists, respectively. As more evidence has accumulated, new results obtained, and more scholars from various disciplines become involved, supporters of the recent "Out-of-Africa" model agree more or less with the "Multiregional Evolution" model regarding the complex history of modern humans and their interbreeding with other archaic populations(e.g., Neandertals). Recent discoveries of new human fossils, Paleolithic archaeological materials, and ancient DNA evidence in China have yielded a large body of information regarding the formation and development of modern humans in this region. However, controversies continue, including that most molecular biologists insist on the replacement of archaic populations by modern humans dispersed from Africa, while most paleoanthropologists and archaeologists propose an enhanced "Continuity with Hybridization" model. In this paper, we compile new results and progress in China and present the current debates and issues on the origins of modern humans. Finally, we offer several suggestions for future studies.

Origin of modern humans in East Asia:clues from the Y chromosome

East Asia is one of the most important regions for studying modern human origin and evolution.A lot of efforts have been made to detect the genetic diversity and to reconstruct the evolutionary history of East Asians,especially using Y chromosome genetic data,in recent years.The Y chromosome data supports the African origin of modern humans in East Asia and the later migration to East Asia through the southern tropic coastline route,and then the northward migration occurred,leading to peopling of the main continent.The genetic data of the Y chromosome reflects a clear prehistoric evolution and migration course of East Asians.As well,the Y chromosome data of East Asians provides clues to elucidate modern human origins and evolution in the neighboring regions,i.e.America,Oceania and the Pacific Islands.

Fuyan human of 120–80 kya cannot challenge the Out-of-Africa theory for modern human dispersal

Recently,Liu et al.reported a mass collection of human teeth found in Fuyan cave in Hunan province of southern China,dating back to 120–80 thousand years age(kya)[1].Morphological measurement of these samples indicated that they can be unequivo-