ARCHBISHOP Desmond Tutu and four Kalahari Desert bushmen from Africa have become the first indigenous people in the world to have had their genetic codes, or genomes, sequenced.

A Sydney researcher, Vanessa Hayes, initiated and co-led the project, which is expected to provide important insights into the origins and treatment of complex human diseases, including cancer.

Dr Vanessa Hayes and Archbishop Tutu.

Dr Hayes, of the University of NSW and Children's Cancer Institute Australia, said Africa was the birthplace of modern humans, making its people among the most genetically diverse in the world.

Her team's research shows that the hunter-gather bushmen of southern Africa have remained isolated from other populations for about 100,000 years.