Associate Professor of Biology Iruka Okeke has written a new book, Divining Without Seeds: The Case for Strengthening Laboratory Medicine in Africa (Cornell University Press), in which she argues that that Africa’s current lack of laboratory diagnostic tools is a serious problem and that diagnostic development should be given high priority there.  We spoke with the Nigerian scientist about her new tome, applying research diagnostic tools to real-world patient care and why quick and accurate diagnoses are so crucial.