African genetic diversity provides novel insights into evolutionary history and local adaptations.

ABSTRACT: Genetic variation and susceptibility to disease are shaped by human demographic history and adaptation. We can now study the genomes of extant Africans and uncover traces of population migration, admixture, assimilation and selection by applying sophisticated computational algorithms. There are four major ethnolinguistic divisions among present day Africans: Hunter-gatherer populations in southern and central Africa; Nilo-Saharan speakers from north and northeast Africa; Afro-Asiatic speakers from north and east Africa; and Niger-Congo speakers who are the predominant ethnolinguistic group spread across most of sub-Saharan Africa. The enormous ethnolinguistic diversity in sub-Saharan African populations is largely paralleled by extensive genetic diversity and until a decade ago, little was

SUBMITTER: Choudhury A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6061870 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature