Journal article
Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment
Nature (London), Vol.533(7604), pp.539-542
05/26/2016
DOI: 10.1038/nature17671
PMCID: PMC4883595
PMID: 27225129
Abstract
Educational attainment is strongly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but genetic factors are estimated to account for at least 20% of the variation across individuals. Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for educational attainment that extends our earlier discovery sample of 101,069 individuals to 293,723 individuals, and a replication study in an independent sample of 111,349 individuals from the UK Biobank. We identify 74 genome-wide significant loci associated with the number of years of schooling completed. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms 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 behavioural phenotype that is mostly environmentally determined, a well-powered GWAS identifies replicable associated genetic variants that suggest biologically relevant pathways. Because educational attainment 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 diseases.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment
- Creators
- Aysu Okbay - Erasmus University RotterdamJonathan P Beauchamp - Harvard UniversityMark Alan Fontana - University of Southern CaliforniaJames J Lee - University of MinnesotaTune H Pers - Boston Children's HospitalCornelius A Rietveld - Erasmus MCPatrick Turley - Harvard UniversityGuo-Bo Chen - The University of QueenslandValur Emilsson - Icelandic Heart AssociationS Fleur W Meddens - Erasmus University RotterdamSven Oskarsson - Uppsala UniversityJoseph K Pickrell - New York Genome CenterKevin Thom - New York UniversityPascal Timshel - Broad InstituteRonald de Vlaming - Erasmus MCAbdel Abdellaoui - Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamTarunveer S Ahluwalia - University of CopenhagenJonas Bacelis - University of GothenburgClemens Baumbach - Helmholtz Zentrum MünchenGyda Bjornsdottir - deCODE Genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik 101, IcelandJohannes H Brandsma - Erasmus MCMaria Pina Concas - Institute of Genetic and Biomedical ResearchJaime Derringer - University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignNicholas A Furlotte - 23andMe (United States)Tessel E Galesloot - Radboud University NijmegenGiorgia Girotto - University of TriesteRicha Gupta - University of HelsinkiLeanne M Hall - University of LeicesterSarah E Harris - University of EdinburghEdith Hofer - Medical University of GrazMomoko Horikoshi - University of OxfordJennifer E Huffman - University of EdinburghKadri Kaasik - University of HelsinkiIoanna P Kalafati - Harokopio University of AthensRobert Karlsson - Karolinska InstitutetAugustine Kong - deCODE Genetics (Iceland)Jari Lahti - University of HelsinkiSven J van der Lee - Erasmus MCChristiaan deLeeuw - Radboud University NijmegenPenelope A Lind - QIMR Berghofer Medical Research InstituteKarl-Oskar Lindgren - Uppsala UniversityTian Liu - Max Planck Institute for Human DevelopmentMassimo Mangino - King's College LondonJonathan Marten - University of EdinburghEvelin Mihailov - University of TartuMichael B Miller - University of MinnesotaPeter J van der Most - University Medical Center GroningenChristopher Oldmeadow - Hunter Medical Research InstituteAntony Payton - University of ManchesterNatalia Pervjakova - University of TartuWouter J Peyrot - GGZ inGeestYong Qian - National Institute on AgingOlli Raitakari - University of TurkuRico Rueedi - University of LausanneErika Salvi - University of MilanBörge Schmidt - Institut für Medizinische Informatik, Biometrie und EpidemiologieKatharina E Schraut - University of EdinburghJianxin Shi - Division of Cancer Epidemiology and GeneticsAlbert V Smith - Icelandic Heart AssociationRaymond A Poot - Erasmus MCBeate St Pourcain - University of BristolAlexander Teumer - Universitätsmedizin GreifswaldGudmar Thorleifsson - deCODE Genetics (Iceland)Niek Verweij - University of GroningenDragana Vuckovic - University of TriesteJuergen Wellmann - University of MünsterHarm-Jan Westra - Broad InstituteJingyun Yang - Rush University Medical CenterWei Zhao - University of MichiganZhihong Zhu - The University of QueenslandBehrooz Z Alizadeh - University Medical Center GroningenNajaf Amin - Erasmus MCAndrew Bakshi - The University of QueenslandSebastian E Baumeister - Universitätsmedizin GreifswaldGinevra Biino - National Research CouncilKlaus Bønnelykke - University of CopenhagenPatricia A Boyle - Rush University Medical CenterHarry Campbell - University of EdinburghFrancesco P Cappuccio - University of WarwickGail Davies - University of EdinburghJan-Emmanuel De Neve - University of OxfordPanos Deloukas - Queen Mary University of LondonIlja Demuth - Charité - Universitätsmedizin BerlinJun Ding - National Institute on AgingPeter Eibich - German Institute for Economic ResearchLewin Eisele - Institut für Medizinische Informatik, Biometrie und EpidemiologieNiina Eklund - Finnish Institute for Health and WelfareDavid M Evans - University of BristolJessica D Faul - University of MichiganMary F Feitosa - Washington University in St. LouisAndreas J Forstner - University of BonnIlaria Gandin - University of TriesteBjarni Gunnarsson - deCODE Genetics (Iceland)Bjarni V Halldórsson - deCODE Genetics (Iceland)Tamara B Harris - National Institutes of HealthAndrew C Heath - Washington University in St. LouisLynne J Hocking - University of AberdeenElizabeth G Holliday - Hunter Medical Research InstituteGeorg Homuth - Universitätsmedizin GreifswaldMichael A Horan - University of ManchesterLifeLines Cohort Study
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Nature (London), Vol.533(7604), pp.539-542
- DOI
- 10.1038/nature17671
- PMID
- 27225129
- PMCID
- PMC4883595
- NLM abbreviation
- Nature
- ISSN
- 0028-0836
- eISSN
- 1476-4687
- Grant note
- R01 AG015819 / NIA NIH HHS R37 DA005147 / NIDA NIH HHS MC_UU_12013/1 / Medical Research Council 647648 / European Research Council RF1 AG015819 / NIA NIH HHS T32-AG000186-23 / NIA NIH HHS MR/J012165/1 / Medical Research Council BB/F022441/1 / Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council MC_QA137853 / Medical Research Council P30-AG012810 / NIA NIH HHS
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 05/26/2016
- Academic Unit
- Economics
- Record Identifier
- 9984936818802771
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