Mitochondrial DNA and other factors place our ancestors in southern Africa 200,000 years ago.

An analysis of more than 400 human genomes from residents of 13 African countries presented at this week’s annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics greatly expands our species’ cataloged genetic diversity.

Whistleblowers allege the institute intended to commercialize a research tool based on the material, a violation of agreements with African scientists who collected the sequences.

Researchers say the skull belongs to an Australopithecus species once thought to be a predecessor to “Lucy,” but now that relationship is murky.

In Niger, fewer kids die when health workers administer azithromycin routinely, perhaps because of a shift in the composition of gut microbes.

Researchers aim to deploy the trial in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been ravaged by Ebola for a year.

Miami University’s plant conservatory was growing seedlings of iboga, which contains an illegal, psychoactive substance.

The cases, which spread from the outbreak in the DRC, include a five-year-old boy who died.

A lack of resources ordinarily blocks young researchers on the continent from scholarly independence, but long-term support is no guarantee.