Social Science Genetic Association Consortium (SSGAC) (Including: Cappuccio, Francesco). (2016) Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment. Nature, 533 . pp. 539-542. doi:10.1038/nature17671 ISSN 0028-0836.
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Abstract
Educational attainment (EA) is strongly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but genetic factors are also estimated to account for at least 20% of the variation across individuals. We report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for EA that extends our earlier discovery sample of 101,069 individuals to 293,723 individuals, and a replication in an independent sample of 111,349 individuals from the UK Biobank. We now identify 74 genome-wide significant loci associated with number of years of schooling completed. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with educational attainment are disproportionately found in genomic regions regulating gene expression in the fetal brain. Candidate genes are preferentially expressed in neural tissue, especially during the prenatal period, and enriched for biological pathways involved in neural development. Our findings demonstrate that, even for a behavioral phenotype that is mostly environmentally determined, a well-powered GWAS identifies replicable associated genetic variants that suggest biologically relevant pathways. Because EA is measured in large numbers of individuals, it will continue to be useful as a proxy phenotype in efforts to characterize the genetic influences of related phenotypes, including cognition and neuropsychiatric disease.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Q Science > QH Natural history > QH426 Genetics |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences > Mental Health and Wellbeing Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Medicine > Warwick Medical School |
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Educational attainment -- Genetic aspects |
| Journal or Publication Title: | Nature |
| Publisher: | Nature Publishing |
| ISSN: | 0028-0836 |
| Official Date: | 16 March 2016 |
| Dates: | Date Event 26 May 2016 Modified 16 March 2016 Available 16 March 2016 Accepted 24 June 2015 Submitted |
| Volume: | 533 |
| Page Range: | pp. 539-542 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/nature17671 |
| Status: | Peer Reviewed |
| Publication Status: | Published |
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 29 March 2016 |
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 11 December 2016 |
| Funder: | Ragnar Söderberg Foundation, Sweden. Vetenskapsrådet [Research Council], Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation, European Research Council (ERC), Foundations of human behavior, National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH) |
| Grant number: | E9/11 (RSF), 421-2013-1061 (SRC), 647648 EdGe (ERC), P01-AG005842 (NIH), P01-AG005842-20S2 (NIH), P30-AG012810 (NIH), T32-AG000186-23 (NIH), R01-AG042568 (NIH) |
| URI: | https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/78132/ |
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