Changes in the gene pool of African ethnic groups also mean that the genetic profiles of present-day Africans contained in company databases are not identical to the profiles of these groups during the time of the slave trade. It has never made sense to define these groups as discrete genetic entities at any point in history. Ethnic groups like the Yoruba and Mende are not natural groupings of genetically related people; they were created by geopolitical forces that arose out of European colonialism.
