Journal
NATURE
Volume 533, Issue 7604, Pages 539-+Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nature17671
Keywords
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Categories
Funding
- Social Science Genetic Association Consortium (SSGAC)
- Ragnar Soderberg Foundation [E9/11]
- Swedish Research Council [421-2013-1061]
- Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation
- ERC [647648 EdGe]
- Pershing Square Fund of the Foundations of Human Behavior
- NIA/NIH [P01-AG005842, P01-AG005842-20S2, P30-AG012810, T32-AG000186-23, R01-AG042568]
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/F022441/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- Chief Scientist Office [CZD/16/6/4] Funding Source: researchfish
- Economic and Social Research Council [ES/M010341/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- Lundbeck Foundation [R190-2014-3904, R163-2013-16235] Funding Source: researchfish
- Medical Research Council [MC_UU_12013/3, MC_PC_U127561128, MC_qA137853, MC_UU_12013/1, MR/N01104X/1, 1201677, MR/J012165/1, G1001799, MC_UU_12013/4, MR/K026992/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- National Institute for Health Research [NF-SI-0514-10027] Funding Source: researchfish
- NNF Center for Basic Metabolic Research [Pers Group] Funding Source: researchfish
- BBSRC [BB/F022441/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- ESRC [ES/M010341/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- MRC [MC_UU_12013/1, MC_PC_U127561128, MR/N01104X/1, MC_UU_12013/4, G1001799, MC_UU_12013/3, MR/J012165/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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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(1). Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for educational attainment that extends our earlier discovery sample(1,2) 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.
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