Genetic variants linked to education predict longevity.
| Authors | |
| Abstract | Educational attainment is associated with many health outcomes, including longevity. It is also known to be substantially heritable. Here, we used data from three large genetic epidemiology cohort studies (Generation Scotland, n = ∼17,000; UK Biobank, n = ∼115,000; and the Estonian Biobank, n = ∼6,000) to test whether education-linked genetic variants can predict lifespan length. We did so by using cohort members' polygenic profile score for education to predict their parents' longevity. Across the three cohorts, meta-analysis showed that a 1 SD higher polygenic education score was associated with ∼2.7% lower mortality risk for both mothers (total ndeaths = 79,702) and ∼2.4% lower risk for fathers (total ndeaths = 97,630). On average, the parents of offspring in the upper third of the polygenic score distribution lived 0.55 y longer compared with those of offspring in the lower third. Overall, these results indicate that the genetic contributions to educational attainment are useful in the prediction of human longevity. |
| Year of Publication | 2016
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| Journal | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
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| Volume | 113
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| Issue | 47
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| Pages | 13366-13371
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| Date Published | 2016 Nov 22
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| ISSN | 1091-6490
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| DOI | 10.1073/pnas.1605334113
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| PubMed ID | 27799538
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| PubMed Central ID | PMC5127357
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| Links | |
| Grant list | MC_UP_A620_1015 / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom
MC_U147574232 / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom
MC_UU_12011/2 / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom
MC_U147585819 / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom
CZD/16/6/4 / Chief Scientist Office / United Kingdom
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