In this issue , Norman Daniels , professor in ethics and population health from School of Public Health of Harvard University is introduced in the column of International Bioethicist.His current research focu-ses on fairness benchmark.The first part is about his academic career .The second part is the partial translation of his masterpiece , Fairness and Population Health: A Broader Bioethical Issue, in which issues of what we have to do for health equity , international fairness and healthy , fairness in different age groups and the birth cohort under an ageing society situation were discussed .In the article , he called for initiatives in bioethical workers .In the third part , the characteristics of public ethics , the importance of ethics investigation in population health , the reasons for global health becoming the hot topic and some more important ethical issues were discussed .

It is great honor to be awarded the Avicenna Prize of Ethics in Science by UNESCO.The award is not only a recognition of my own work but also a commendation of the efforts of my colleagues in China who are devoted to the ethics of science and technology and to raising the ethical awareness among scientists,policy makers and the public.I am indebted to international organizations such as UNESCO,and many of my foreign colleagues who have been a constant source of support and inspiration for the past decades.There are two approaches in addressing ethical issues in life science.One is the flying-kite model.The other ethical approach is based on the riding-bicycle model.However,there will never be an omnipotent ethical theory that is capable of resolving all ethical issues in the past,present and future.Our decision should not be reached by direct deduction from any theory or principle alone.It is absolutely necessary to regulate biomedical research and biotechnology to ensure proper development of biomedicine and biotechnology.The institutionalization of bioethics in scientific research aims at building an infrastructure or a framework to protect human subjects.Nevertheless some scientists and policy makers still have misunderstanding about ethics.This shows that attitudes can change and that social progress is possible,but it takes patience and persistent intellectual engagement.The outcome of such a reconciliation approach would be as what Confucius said: he er bu tong(Lun Yu,Chapter 13,paragraph 23).It means "harmonized but not identical" or "harmonized as well as diversified" in China′s and world′s bioethics.

The author analyzed the peculiarity of bioethics from standardability , rationality , practicability/ap-plicability , evidence/experience , secularity these five five aspects .Based on this , how to understand bioethics was alsodiscussed in this paper from the viewpoints of right path of bioethics , de -ethics trend and building culture brand.

In this article the author discusses the relationship between science/technology and ethics,the basic principles of bioethics and the difference between morality and ethics,and then addresses ethical issues in stem cell research,gene therapy,reproductive genetics,xenotransplantation,biomedical research and clinical trials.

This brief article argues that if institutional ethical review committee is established and functioned in conformity with the Interim Rules on Ethical Review of Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects promulgated by the Ministry of Health,it will be legitimate and meet quality requirement.If some institutes attempt to seek accreditation and recognition from oversea organization,the accreditation and recognition will be both illegal and ineffective.

This paper explores certain ethical issues related to stem cell research including the social circumstances of stem cell technology development,stem cell research and Chinese culture,consciousness to protect the legal rights and profits of patients and subjects,absence in management,and new challenges in this particular field.It is also concluded that a legal regulation on stem cell research and clinical application must be formulated to protect the legal rights and profits of patients,subjects,and the public during the further development of stem cell research.

Based on the experiences and lessons in the practice of international ethics review,this paper discusses 8 related issues in order to strengthen the capacity in ethics review in China.The relevant issues of ethics review board construction and professional personnel training are also included.

This article describes the definition of precision medicine and the American and Chinese precision medicine initiatives.It then discussed ethical and regulatory challenges raised by precision medicine.These challenges include cost-effectiveness ratio evaluation for precision medicine initiatives,risk-benefit ratio in precision medicine,valid informed consent for research participants,independent ethical review of precise prevention and treatment protocols,protection of individual privacy data,mass data sharing and equitable access of research results.

Since Chinese Regulation of Human Organ Transplantation being enforced in practice on May 1,2007,many related issues have arisen and drown our attention.One typical example is the mutual kidney transplantation issue between two families in Hunan province.Based on analyzing the pros and cons in this real event of disputes,the paper discusses ethical issues related to mutual kidney transplantation as follows.Whether or not this exchange approach of organ transplantation can be justified in order to save human lives? Whether or not the mutual transplantation style should be expanded to multiple families? How to handle the gap of organ supply shortage during practical transplantation between two or among several families? How to coordinate the disputes between mutual kidney transplantation and the now in-force legal regulations on organ transplantation?

Since the publication of the first edition of the Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics in 1998 , the world has changed .The post-millennium and post 9/11 context brought with it a shift of emphasis concerning the re-sponse to terrorism , for example , including growing interest in measures such as biometric identification technolo-gies.But it is not only in the socio -political context that we see a change .In science the sequencing of the human genome , the promise of stem cell science and the rise of synthetic biology have all led to considerable debate .Ethi-cal issues also increasingly have a global dimension .The second edition of the Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics in-volved some issues that not or little mentioned in the 1998 version.Neverthless, it still reserved those classicpa-pers and updated when necessary , to reflect the progress of applied ethical approaches .Here, I tried to draw the outline of the main trends and ways of debates during this time .I think these ways can be divided into three catego-ries, due to the changes in contexts , issues and ethical approaches .