Natives or immigrants: modern human origin in east Asia
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Updated: Sep 28, 2026

Analysis of Neural Crest Migration and Differentiation by Cross-species Transplantation
Published on: February 7, 2012
1Human Genetics Center, University of Texas, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. ljin@sph.uth.tmc.edu
Abstract:
East Asia is one of the few regions in the world where a relatively large number of human fossils have been unearthed--a discovery that has been taken as evidence for an independent local origin of modern humans outside of Africa. However, genetic studies conducted in the past ten years, especially using Y chromosomes, have provided unequivocal evidence for an African origin of East Asian populations. The genetic signatures present in diverse East Asian populations mark the footsteps of prehistoric migrations that occurred tens of thousands of years ago.
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