One of the largest ‘migration’ events in recent human
history has been that of millions of Africans who were
brought as slaves to the Americas and Europe in the past
several hundred years. The slaves, who originated from
ethnically diverse African populations (predominantly
from West Africa), admixed with each other, as well as
with people of mainly European descent, making their
gene pool genetically heterogeneous. People of the
African diaspora often have high prevalences of certain
complex diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes and
prostate cancer, for which the genetic bases are poorly
understood.