Sub-Saharan African populations have a rich and
important history from which we can learn about our origins as a species and the way in which genetic variation affects human phenotypes, including complex disease. Africa is thought to be the ancestral homeland of all MODERN HUMANS, and is the more recent homeland of millions of individuals whose ancestors
were brought to Europe and to the Americas as slaves.The study of the levels and patterns of genetic diversity among the multitude of ethnically diverse
African populations will shed light on many questions about human evolutionary history and thegenetic basis of phenotypic variation. However,despite the important contributions that studies ofAfrican populations can make, these populationshave been understudied compared with non-Africanpopulations.