Jin Li (; born 1963) is a Chinese
geneticist
A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processes ...
and the vice-president of
Fudan University
Fudan University () is a national public research university in Shanghai, China. Fudan is a member of the C9 League, Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University identified by the Ministry of Education of China. It is ...
.
[金力 (Jin Li)](_blank)
. Fudan University.[Jin Li](_blank)
The Holeung Ho Lee Foundation. Jin is a professor at the National Human Genome Center and Fudan's Institute of Genetics, both in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
. He is the principal investigator of
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...
n populations for the
Genographic Project
The Genographic Project, launched on 13 April 2005 by the National Geographic Society and IBM, was a genetic anthropological study (sales discontinued on 31 May 2019) that aimed to map historical human migrations patterns by collecting and ...
which collects DNA samples to map historical human migration patterns around the world.
[National Geographic]
Profile: Li Jin
Accessed 2010-08-13.
Personal life and education
Jin was born in Shanghai.
He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in genetics in 1985 and 1987 respectively, both at Fudan University,
where he was a student of
Tan Jiazhen
Tan Jiazhen (15 September 1909 – 1 November 2008), also known as C. C. Tan, was a Chinese geneticist. He was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a foreign member of United States National Academy of Sciences. Tan was a ma ...
.
[复旦师生清明祭扫缅怀谈家桢 (Fudan professors and students sweep tomb in memory of Tan Jiazhen for Qingming Festival).](_blank)
''People's Daily'', 4 April 2013. He then moved to the United States to earn his doctorate at the
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) is a public academic health science center in Houston, Texas, United States. It was created in 1972 by The University of Texas System Board of Regents. It is located in the ...
, graduating in 1994.
Jin was doing postdoctoral research at
Stanford University that year when Tan, by then 86 years old, made a trip to the United States specifically to visit Jin to discuss the development of biology research in China and to offer him a position at Fudan.
Jin eventually took up a part-time position at Fudan in 1997 before returning to China full-time in 2005.
After his return, he renounced his U.S. permanent residency.
He served as dean of Fudan's School of Life Sciences until 2008.
Research
Jin is a leading proponent of the model of
recent African origin of modern humans
In paleoanthropology, the recent African origin of modern humans, also called the "Out of Africa" theory (OOA), recent single-origin hypothesis (RSOH), replacement hypothesis, or recent African origin model (RAO), is the dominant model of the ...
.
[遗传生物学研究证实：北京猿人并非中国人祖先 (Genetic research shows that the Peking Man is not Chinese people's ancestor).]
''China News''. 14 January 2005. His research presented evidence that the majority of the
gene pool
The gene pool is the set of all genes, or genetic information, in any population, usually of a particular species.
Description
A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic diversity, which is associated with robust populations that can surv ...
s in
China originated from
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
[Van Arsdel, K., Garvin, L]
Genetic Findings Support 'Out of Africa' Theory
. Texas Medical Center News. 15 October 1998. His team analyzed the
Y chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes ( allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or a ...
s of males around China and compared this group with those of
Southeast Asian
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
s and
Africans
African or Africans may refer to:
* Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa:
** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa
*** Et ...
. Results of the analysis suggested that Southeast Asia was the first destination of the migration from Africa to Asia which began approximately 60,000 years ago; from there, migrants moved into
Southern China
South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not ...
, then crossing the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flow ...
to
Northern China
Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions is not precisely defined and only serve to depict where there appears to be regional differences between the climates ...
.
[Jin, et al]
Hypothetical ancestral migration routes to the Far East.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Natio ...
. September 29, 1998.[Jin, et al (2000)]
Y染色体单倍型在中国汉族人群中的多态性
. ''Science in China''. 30 (6): 614–620. He "could not find any evidence that is consistent with the hypothesis of
independent origin in China" in the 1998 study which used genetic markers called
microsatellite
A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain DNA motifs (ranging in length from one to six or more base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–50 times. Microsatellites occur at thousands of locations within an organism's genome. ...
s to compare Chinese populations.
[Jin, et al]
Genetic relationship of populations in China.
''''. 29 September 1998. He stated that while his research does not necessarily rule out independent origin, the burden of proof has been shifted to those who believe in independent origin.[ The findings contrast with the hypothesis that the ]Peking Man
Peking Man (''Homo erectus pekinensis'') is a subspecies of '' H. erectus'' which inhabited the Zhoukoudian Cave of northern China during the Middle Pleistocene. The first fossil, a tooth, was discovered in 1921, and the Zhoukoudian Cave has ...
was the ancestor of Chinese people.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jin, Li
1963 births
Living people
Biologists from Shanghai
Chinese geneticists
Educators from Shanghai
Fudan University alumni
Fudan University faculty
Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston alumni