The study of human genetic diversity enables us to retrace the evolutionary history of our species and better understand the phenotypic variability of human populations. In the course of our evolution, numerous migrations have helped shape human genetic variability. The demographic history of the human species also includes a great deal of intermingling between populations, which is at the origin of part of human genetic diversity. However, human evolutionary history means much more than demographic history. It also includes his adaptation to the various environments - nutritional, climatic or pathogenic - that he has encountered, as well as the different epigenetic responses put in place to cope with them. Detecting how natural selection has influenced the variability of the human genome represents a powerful tool for identifying biological functions that have played a major role in the adaptation and survival of our species, and which may also be associated with variable phenotypes of medical interest. Through various examples, we will see how environmental pressures, particularly those exerted by pathogens and infectious diseases, have influenced the genetic and epigenetic diversity of different human populations, with a particular focus on the farming and hunter-gathering populations of Central Africa.
