China's top 10 sci-tech triumphs in 2020
2020 saw Chinese teams visit the world's deepest ocean and bring back samples from the moon. Let's take a look at the country's top 10 sci-tech achievements during the year.
# The mystery of China's prehistoric human population revealed
An article titled "Ancient DNA indicates human population shifts and admixture in northern and southern China" by the Chinese Academy of Sciences was published online in Science magazine this July, shedding light on China's prehistoric human population migration and admixture.
The study sequenced DNA from 26 individuals who lived between 9,500 and 300 years ago from locations across China. Analysis of these individuals, along with previously sequenced ancient remains and present-day genomes representing global populations, show a split between ancient humans in northern and southern China.
Neolithic individuals from northern China are closest to modern-day East Asians, whereas ancient southern Chinese individuals are most closely related to those from present-day Southeast Asia. These outcomes suggest that there was a southward movement and admixture of peoples during the Neolithic period that gave rise to modern-day populations in East Asia.
