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One of the features of advanced life sciences research in recent years has been its internationalisation, with countries such as China and South Korea considered 'emerging biotech' locations. As a result, cross-continental collaborations are becoming common generating moves towards ethical and legal standardisation under the rubric of 'global bioethics'. Such a 'global', 'Western' or 'universal' bioethics has in turn been critiqued as an imposition upon resource-poor, non-Western or local medical settings. In this article, we propose that a different tack is necessary if we are to come to grips with the ethical challenges that inter-continental biomedical research collaborations generate. In particular we ask how national systems of ethical governance of life science research might cope with increasingly global research collaborations with a focus on Sino-European collaboration. We propose four 'spheres' - deliberation, regulation, oversight and interaction - as a helpful way to conceptualise national systems of ethical governance. Using a workshop-based mapping methodology (workshops held in Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha, Xian, Shenzen and London) we identified three specific ethical challenges arising from cross-continental research collaborations: (1) ambiguity as to which regulations are applicable; (2) lack of ethical review capacity not only among ethical review board members but also collaborating scientists; (3) already complex, researcher-research subject interaction is further complicated when many nationalities are involved., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Reproduction and the family are central elements in the lives of people, and in the narratives and practices of diverse cultures and societies. In the development of ever more powerful techniques of assisted reproduction a number of questions have emerged. They lie at the heart of what it means to reproduce, to be a parent, to be a human being. Reproductive technologies and their consideration influence perceptions and practices in regard to reproduction and beyond, thus embodying anthropological implications for the understanding of family, motherhood, health, offspring, responsibility and others. Technological capabilities and socio-cultural perceptions are strongly intertwined. The role of bioethics in this context is to explore human nascency as a process. To better understand this process and its implications for human life both medical and social, we suggest considering different perspectives on reproductive technologies to widen our understanding. These perspectives range from the potential child and its parents to health care professionals and the state. In expanding our perception of reproduction, social scientific methods can help to situate philosophical and ethical issues, thus rendering bioethical examination of reproductive technologies more socially robust. In this paper, we provide an overview of several bioethical key themes in assisted reproduction: methodological questions in regard to providing better understanding of this field, selective and inclusive social aspects of assisted reproduction, financial and governance considerations, and an applied consideration of the IVF research interface.