TY - JOUR
T1 - Selection against variants in the genome associated with educational attainment
AU - Kong, Augustine
AU - Frigge, Michael L.
AU - Thorleifsson, Gudmar
AU - Stefansson, Hreinn
AU - Young, Alexander I.
AU - Zink, Florian
AU - Jonsdottir, Gudrun A.
AU - Okbay, Aysu
AU - Sulem, Patrick
AU - Masson, Gisli
AU - Gudbjartsson, Daniel F.
AU - Helgason, Agnar
AU - Bjornsdottir, Gyda
AU - Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur
AU - Stefansson, Kari
PY - 2017/1/31
Y1 - 2017/1/31
N2 - Epidemiological and genetic association studies show that genetics play an important role in the attainment of education. Here, we investigate the effect of this genetic component on the reproductive history of 109,120 Icelanders and the consequent impact on the gene pool over time. We show that an educational attainment polygenic score, POLYEDU, constructed from results of a recent study is associated with delayed reproduction (P < 10-100) and fewer children overall. The effect is stronger for women and remains highly significant after adjusting for educational attainment. Based on 129,808 Icelanders born between 1910 and 1990, we find that the average POLYEDU has been declining at a rate of ∼0.010 standard units per decade, which is substantial on an evolutionary timescale. Most importantly, because POLYEDU only captures a fraction of the overall underlying genetic component the latter could be declining at a rate that is two to three times faster.
AB - Epidemiological and genetic association studies show that genetics play an important role in the attainment of education. Here, we investigate the effect of this genetic component on the reproductive history of 109,120 Icelanders and the consequent impact on the gene pool over time. We show that an educational attainment polygenic score, POLYEDU, constructed from results of a recent study is associated with delayed reproduction (P < 10-100) and fewer children overall. The effect is stronger for women and remains highly significant after adjusting for educational attainment. Based on 129,808 Icelanders born between 1910 and 1990, we find that the average POLYEDU has been declining at a rate of ∼0.010 standard units per decade, which is substantial on an evolutionary timescale. Most importantly, because POLYEDU only captures a fraction of the overall underlying genetic component the latter could be declining at a rate that is two to three times faster.
KW - Educational attainment
KW - Fertility
KW - Genes
KW - Selection
KW - Sequence variants
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85011263117&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85011263117&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1612113114
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1612113114
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85011263117
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 114
SP - E727-E732
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 5
ER -
