Tishkoff, who is a professor in the genetics and biology departments at Penn, discusses her research into variations in the genetics, as well as the physical characteristics, of ethnically diverse Africans. Her research combines fieldwork, laboratory research and computational methods to examine African population history. She examines how genetic variation can affect a wide range of practical issues – for example, why humans have different susceptibility to disease, how they metabolize drugs and how they adapt through evolution.