title: Selection against variants in the genome associated with educational attainment.
abstract: 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 POLYEDUhas been declining at a rate of ∼0.010 standard units per decade, which is substantial on an evolutionary timescale. Most importantly, because POLYEDUonly captures a fraction of the overall underlying genetic component the latter could be declining at a rate that is two to three times faster.
authors.affiliation: deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland; kong@decode.is kari.stefansson@decode.is.|School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik 101, Iceland.
authors.forename: Augustine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland.
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Frigge
authors.affiliation: deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland.
authors.forename: Gudmar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thorleifsson
authors.affiliation: deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland.
authors.forename: Hreinn
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stefansson
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alexander I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zink
authors.affiliation: deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland.
authors.forename: Gudrun A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Jonsdottir
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Economics, Erasmus School of Applied Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Institute for Behavior and Biology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3062 PA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Aysu
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5170-7781
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Okbay
authors.affiliation: deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sulem
authors.affiliation: deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland.
authors.forename: Gisli
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Masson
authors.affiliation: deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland.|School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik 101, Iceland.
authors.forename: Daniel F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Gudbjartsson
authors.affiliation: deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland.|Department of Anthropology, University of Iceland, Reykjavik 101, Iceland.
authors.forename: Agnar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Helgason
authors.affiliation: deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland.
authors.forename: Gyda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bjornsdottir
authors.affiliation: deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik 101, Iceland.
authors.forename: Unnur
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Thorsteinsdottir
authors.affiliation: deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, Iceland; kong@decode.is kari.stefansson@decode.is.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik 101, Iceland.
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stefansson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015894:Genome, Human; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007055:Iceland; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: educational attainment; fertility; genes; selection; sequence variants