Kong Augustine, Frigge Michael L, Thorleifsson Gudmar, Stefansson Hreinn, Young Alexander I, Zink Florian, Jonsdottir Gudrun A, Okbay Aysu, Sulem Patrick, Masson Gisli, Gudbjartsson Daniel F, Helgason Agnar, Bjornsdottir Gyda, Thorsteinsdottir Unnur, Stefansson Kari
deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland;
School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik 101, Iceland.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Jan 31;114(5):E727-E732. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1612113114. Epub 2017 Jan 17.
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, POLY constructed from results of a recent study is associated with delayed reproduction (P < 10) 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 POLY has been declining at a rate of ∼0.010 standard units per decade, which is substantial on an evolutionary timescale. Most importantly, because POLY 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.
流行病学和基因关联研究表明，基因在受教育程度方面起着重要作用。在此，我们研究了这一基因成分对109120名冰岛人的生育史的影响，以及随着时间推移对基因库的后续影响。我们发现，根据近期一项研究结果构建的受教育程度多基因得分（POLY）与生育延迟（P<10）和总体子女数量减少有关。这种影响在女性中更强，在调整受教育程度后仍非常显著。基于1910年至1990年出生的129808名冰岛人，我们发现平均POLY以每十年约0.010个标准单位的速度下降，这在进化时间尺度上是相当可观的。最重要的是，由于POLY仅捕获了总体潜在基因成分的一部分，后者的下降速度可能快两到三倍。
