%0 Journal Article %J Nat Genet %D 2018 %T Gene discovery and polygenic prediction from a genome-wide association study of educational attainment in 1.1 million individuals. %A Lee, James J %A Wedow, Robbee %A Okbay, Aysu %A Kong, Edward %A Maghzian, Omeed %A Zacher, Meghan %A Nguyen-Viet, Tuan Anh %A Bowers, Peter %A Sidorenko, Julia %A Karlsson Linnér, Richard %A Fontana, Mark Alan %A Kundu, Tushar %A Lee, Chanwook %A Li, Hui %A Li, Ruoxi %A Royer, Rebecca %A Timshel, Pascal N %A Walters, Raymond K %A Willoughby, Emily A %A Yengo, Loic %A Alver, Maris %A Bao, Yanchun %A Clark, David W %A Day, Felix R %A Furlotte, Nicholas A %A Joshi, Peter K %A Kemper, Kathryn E %A Kleinman, Aaron %A Langenberg, Claudia %A Mägi, Reedik %A Trampush, Joey W %A Verma, Shefali Setia %A Wu, Yang %A Lam, Max %A Zhao, Jing Hua %A Zheng, Zhili %A Boardman, Jason D %A Campbell, Harry %A Freese, Jeremy %A Harris, Kathleen Mullan %A Hayward, Caroline %A Herd, Pamela %A Kumari, Meena %A Lencz, Todd %A Luan, Jian'an %A Malhotra, Anil K %A Metspalu, Andres %A Milani, Lili %A Ong, Ken K %A Perry, John R B %A Porteous, David J %A Ritchie, Marylyn D %A Smart, Melissa C %A Smith, Blair H %A Tung, Joyce Y %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Wilson, James F %A Beauchamp, Jonathan P %A Conley, Dalton C %A Esko, Tõnu %A Lehrer, Steven F %A Magnusson, Patrik K E %A Oskarsson, Sven %A Pers, Tune H %A Robinson, Matthew R %A Thom, Kevin %A Watson, Chelsea %A Chabris, Christopher F %A Meyer, Michelle N %A Laibson, David I %A Yang, Jian %A Johannesson, Magnus %A Koellinger, Philipp D %A Turley, Patrick %A Visscher, Peter M %A Benjamin, Daniel J %A Cesarini, David %X

Here we conducted a large-scale genetic association analysis of educational attainment in a sample of approximately 1.1 million individuals and identify 1,271 independent genome-wide-significant SNPs. For the SNPs taken together, we found evidence of heterogeneous effects across environments. The SNPs implicate genes involved in brain-development processes and neuron-to-neuron communication. In a separate analysis of the X chromosome, we identify 10 independent genome-wide-significant SNPs and estimate a SNP heritability of around 0.3% in both men and women, consistent with partial dosage compensation. A joint (multi-phenotype) analysis of educational attainment and three related cognitive phenotypes generates polygenic scores that explain 11-13% of the variance in educational attainment and 7-10% of the variance in cognitive performance. This prediction accuracy substantially increases the utility of polygenic scores as tools in research.

%B Nat Genet %V 50 %P 1112-1121 %8 2018 Aug %G eng %N 8 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30038396?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1038/s41588-018-0147-3 %0 Journal Article %J Nat Genet %D 2018 %T Genetic analysis of over 1 million people identifies 535 new loci associated with blood pressure traits. %A Evangelou, Evangelos %A Warren, Helen R %A Mosen-Ansorena, David %A Mifsud, Borbala %A Pazoki, Raha %A Gao, He %A Ntritsos, Georgios %A Dimou, Niki %A Cabrera, Claudia P %A Karaman, Ibrahim %A Ng, Fu Liang %A Evangelou, Marina %A Witkowska, Katarzyna %A Tzanis, Evan %A Hellwege, Jacklyn N %A Giri, Ayush %A Velez Edwards, Digna R %A Sun, Yan V %A Cho, Kelly %A Gaziano, J Michael %A Wilson, Peter W F %A Tsao, Philip S %A Kovesdy, Csaba P %A Esko, Tõnu %A Mägi, Reedik %A Milani, Lili %A Almgren, Peter %A Boutin, Thibaud %A Debette, Stéphanie %A Ding, Jun %A Giulianini, Franco %A Holliday, Elizabeth G %A Jackson, Anne U %A Li-Gao, Ruifang %A Lin, Wei-Yu %A Luan, Jian'an %A Mangino, Massimo %A Oldmeadow, Christopher %A Prins, Bram Peter %A Qian, Yong %A Sargurupremraj, Muralidharan %A Shah, Nabi %A Surendran, Praveen %A Thériault, Sébastien %A Verweij, Niek %A Willems, Sara M %A Zhao, Jing-Hua %A Amouyel, Philippe %A Connell, John %A de Mutsert, Renée %A Doney, Alex S F %A Farrall, Martin %A Menni, Cristina %A Morris, Andrew D %A Noordam, Raymond %A Paré, Guillaume %A Poulter, Neil R %A Shields, Denis C %A Stanton, Alice %A Thom, Simon %A Abecasis, Goncalo %A Amin, Najaf %A Arking, Dan E %A Ayers, Kristin L %A Barbieri, Caterina M %A Batini, Chiara %A Bis, Joshua C %A Blake, Tineka %A Bochud, Murielle %A Boehnke, Michael %A Boerwinkle, Eric %A Boomsma, Dorret I %A Bottinger, Erwin P %A Braund, Peter S %A Brumat, Marco %A Campbell, Archie %A Campbell, Harry %A Chakravarti, Aravinda %A Chambers, John C %A Chauhan, Ganesh %A Ciullo, Marina %A Cocca, Massimiliano %A Collins, Francis %A Cordell, Heather J %A Davies, Gail %A de Borst, Martin H %A de Geus, Eco J %A Deary, Ian J %A Deelen, Joris %A del Greco M, Fabiola %A Demirkale, Cumhur Yusuf %A Dörr, Marcus %A Ehret, Georg B %A Elosua, Roberto %A Enroth, Stefan %A Erzurumluoglu, A Mesut %A Ferreira, Teresa %A Frånberg, Mattias %A Franco, Oscar H %A Gandin, Ilaria %A Gasparini, Paolo %A Giedraitis, Vilmantas %A Gieger, Christian %A Girotto, Giorgia %A Goel, Anuj %A Gow, Alan J %A Gudnason, Vilmundur %A Guo, Xiuqing %A Gyllensten, Ulf %A Hamsten, Anders %A Harris, Tamara B %A Harris, Sarah E %A Hartman, Catharina A %A Havulinna, Aki S %A Hicks, Andrew A %A Hofer, Edith %A Hofman, Albert %A Hottenga, Jouke-Jan %A Huffman, Jennifer E %A Hwang, Shih-Jen %A Ingelsson, Erik %A James, Alan %A Jansen, Rick %A Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta %A Joehanes, Roby %A Johansson, Åsa %A Johnson, Andrew D %A Joshi, Peter K %A Jousilahti, Pekka %A Jukema, J Wouter %A Jula, Antti %A Kähönen, Mika %A Kathiresan, Sekar %A Keavney, Bernard D %A Khaw, Kay-Tee %A Knekt, Paul %A Knight, Joanne %A Kolcic, Ivana %A Kooner, Jaspal S %A Koskinen, Seppo %A Kristiansson, Kati %A Kutalik, Zoltán %A Laan, Maris %A Larson, Marty %A Launer, Lenore J %A Lehne, Benjamin %A Lehtimäki, Terho %A Liewald, David C M %A Lin, Li %A Lind, Lars %A Lindgren, Cecilia M %A Liu, Yongmei %A Loos, Ruth J F %A Lopez, Lorna M %A Lu, Yingchang %A Lyytikäinen, Leo-Pekka %A Mahajan, Anubha %A Mamasoula, Chrysovalanto %A Marrugat, Jaume %A Marten, Jonathan %A Milaneschi, Yuri %A Morgan, Anna %A Morris, Andrew P %A Morrison, Alanna C %A Munson, Peter J %A Nalls, Mike A %A Nandakumar, Priyanka %A Nelson, Christopher P %A Niiranen, Teemu %A Nolte, Ilja M %A Nutile, Teresa %A Oldehinkel, Albertine J %A Oostra, Ben A %A O'Reilly, Paul F %A Org, Elin %A Padmanabhan, Sandosh %A Palmas, Walter %A Palotie, Aarno %A Pattie, Alison %A Penninx, Brenda W J H %A Perola, Markus %A Peters, Annette %A Polasek, Ozren %A Pramstaller, Peter P %A Nguyen, Quang Tri %A Raitakari, Olli T %A Ren, Meixia %A Rettig, Rainer %A Rice, Kenneth %A Ridker, Paul M %A Ried, Janina S %A Riese, Harriëtte %A Ripatti, Samuli %A Robino, Antonietta %A Rose, Lynda M %A Rotter, Jerome I %A Rudan, Igor %A Ruggiero, Daniela %A Saba, Yasaman %A Sala, Cinzia F %A Salomaa, Veikko %A Samani, Nilesh J %A Sarin, Antti-Pekka %A Schmidt, Reinhold %A Schmidt, Helena %A Shrine, Nick %A Siscovick, David %A Smith, Albert V %A Snieder, Harold %A Sõber, Siim %A Sorice, Rossella %A Starr, John M %A Stott, David J %A Strachan, David P %A Strawbridge, Rona J %A Sundström, Johan %A Swertz, Morris A %A Taylor, Kent D %A Teumer, Alexander %A Tobin, Martin D %A Tomaszewski, Maciej %A Toniolo, Daniela %A Traglia, Michela %A Trompet, Stella %A Tuomilehto, Jaakko %A Tzourio, Christophe %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Vaez, Ahmad %A van der Most, Peter J %A van Duijn, Cornelia M %A Vergnaud, Anne-Claire %A Verwoert, Germaine C %A Vitart, Veronique %A Völker, Uwe %A Vollenweider, Peter %A Vuckovic, Dragana %A Watkins, Hugh %A Wild, Sarah H %A Willemsen, Gonneke %A Wilson, James F %A Wright, Alan F %A Yao, Jie %A Zemunik, Tatijana %A Zhang, Weihua %A Attia, John R %A Butterworth, Adam S %A Chasman, Daniel I %A Conen, David %A Cucca, Francesco %A Danesh, John %A Hayward, Caroline %A Howson, Joanna M M %A Laakso, Markku %A Lakatta, Edward G %A Langenberg, Claudia %A Melander, Olle %A Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O %A Palmer, Colin N A %A Risch, Lorenz %A Scott, Robert A %A Scott, Rodney J %A Sever, Peter %A Spector, Tim D %A van der Harst, Pim %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Zeggini, Eleftheria %A Levy, Daniel %A Munroe, Patricia B %A Newton-Cheh, Christopher %A Brown, Morris J %A Metspalu, Andres %A Hung, Adriana M %A O'Donnell, Christopher J %A Edwards, Todd L %A Psaty, Bruce M %A Tzoulaki, Ioanna %A Barnes, Michael R %A Wain, Louise V %A Elliott, Paul %A Caulfield, Mark J %X

High blood pressure is a highly heritable and modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. We report the largest genetic association study of blood pressure traits (systolic, diastolic and pulse pressure) to date in over 1 million people of European ancestry. We identify 535 novel blood pressure loci that not only offer new biological insights into blood pressure regulation but also highlight shared genetic architecture between blood pressure and lifestyle exposures. Our findings identify new biological pathways for blood pressure regulation with potential for improved cardiovascular disease prevention in the future.

%B Nat Genet %V 50 %P 1412-1425 %8 2018 Oct %G eng %N 10 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30224653?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1038/s41588-018-0205-x %0 Journal Article %J Am J Hum Genet %D 2018 %T Genome Analyses of >200,000 Individuals Identify 58 Loci for Chronic Inflammation and Highlight Pathways that Link Inflammation and Complex Disorders. %A Ligthart, Symen %A Vaez, Ahmad %A Võsa, Urmo %A Stathopoulou, Maria G %A de Vries, Paul S %A Prins, Bram P %A van der Most, Peter J %A Tanaka, Toshiko %A Naderi, Elnaz %A Rose, Lynda M %A Wu, Ying %A Karlsson, Robert %A Barbalic, Maja %A Lin, Honghuang %A Pool, René %A Zhu, Gu %A Macé, Aurélien %A Sidore, Carlo %A Trompet, Stella %A Mangino, Massimo %A Sabater-Lleal, Maria %A Kemp, John P %A Abbasi, Ali %A Kacprowski, Tim %A Verweij, Niek %A Smith, Albert V %A Huang, Tao %A Marzi, Carola %A Feitosa, Mary F %A Lohman, Kurt K %A Kleber, Marcus E %A Milaneschi, Yuri %A Mueller, Christian %A Huq, Mahmudul %A Vlachopoulou, Efthymia %A Lyytikäinen, Leo-Pekka %A Oldmeadow, Christopher %A Deelen, Joris %A Perola, Markus %A Zhao, Jing Hua %A Feenstra, Bjarke %A Amini, Marzyeh %A Lahti, Jari %A Schraut, Katharina E %A Fornage, Myriam %A Suktitipat, Bhoom %A Chen, Wei-Min %A Li, Xiaohui %A Nutile, Teresa %A Malerba, Giovanni %A Luan, Jian'an %A Bak, Tom %A Schork, Nicholas %A del Greco M, Fabiola %A Thiering, Elisabeth %A Mahajan, Anubha %A Marioni, Riccardo E %A Mihailov, Evelin %A Eriksson, Joel %A Ozel, Ayse Bilge %A Zhang, Weihua %A Nethander, Maria %A Cheng, Yu-Ching %A Aslibekyan, Stella %A Ang, Wei %A Gandin, Ilaria %A Yengo, Loic %A Portas, Laura %A Kooperberg, Charles %A Hofer, Edith %A Rajan, Kumar B %A Schurmann, Claudia %A den Hollander, Wouter %A Ahluwalia, Tarunveer S %A Zhao, Jing %A Draisma, Harmen H M %A Ford, Ian %A Timpson, Nicholas %A Teumer, Alexander %A Huang, Hongyan %A Wahl, Simone %A Liu, Yongmei %A Huang, Jie %A Uh, Hae-Won %A Geller, Frank %A Joshi, Peter K %A Yanek, Lisa R %A Trabetti, Elisabetta %A Lehne, Benjamin %A Vozzi, Diego %A Verbanck, Marie %A Biino, Ginevra %A Saba, Yasaman %A Meulenbelt, Ingrid %A O'Connell, Jeff R %A Laakso, Markku %A Giulianini, Franco %A Magnusson, Patrik K E %A Ballantyne, Christie M %A Hottenga, Jouke Jan %A Montgomery, Grant W %A Rivadineira, Fernando %A Rueedi, Rico %A Steri, Maristella %A Herzig, Karl-Heinz %A Stott, David J %A Menni, Cristina %A Frånberg, Mattias %A St Pourcain, Beate %A Felix, Stephan B %A Pers, Tune H %A Bakker, Stephan J L %A Kraft, Peter %A Peters, Annette %A Vaidya, Dhananjay %A Delgado, Graciela %A Smit, Johannes H %A Großmann, Vera %A Sinisalo, Juha %A Seppälä, Ilkka %A Williams, Stephen R %A Holliday, Elizabeth G %A Moed, Matthijs %A Langenberg, Claudia %A Räikkönen, Katri %A Ding, Jingzhong %A Campbell, Harry %A Sale, Michele M %A Chen, Yii-Der I %A James, Alan L %A Ruggiero, Daniela %A Soranzo, Nicole %A Hartman, Catharina A %A Smith, Erin N %A Berenson, Gerald S %A Fuchsberger, Christian %A Hernandez, Dena %A Tiesler, Carla M T %A Giedraitis, Vilmantas %A Liewald, David %A Fischer, Krista %A Mellström, Dan %A Larsson, Anders %A Wang, Yunmei %A Scott, William R %A Lorentzon, Matthias %A Beilby, John %A Ryan, Kathleen A %A Pennell, Craig E %A Vuckovic, Dragana %A Balkau, Beverly %A Concas, Maria Pina %A Schmidt, Reinhold %A Mendes de Leon, Carlos F %A Bottinger, Erwin P %A Kloppenburg, Margreet %A Paternoster, Lavinia %A Boehnke, Michael %A Musk, A W %A Willemsen, Gonneke %A Evans, David M %A Madden, Pamela A F %A Kähönen, Mika %A Kutalik, Zoltán %A Zoledziewska, Magdalena %A Karhunen, Ville %A Kritchevsky, Stephen B %A Sattar, Naveed %A LaChance, Genevieve %A Clarke, Robert %A Harris, Tamara B %A Raitakari, Olli T %A Attia, John R %A van Heemst, Diana %A Kajantie, Eero %A Sorice, Rossella %A Gambaro, Giovanni %A Scott, Robert A %A Hicks, Andrew A %A Ferrucci, Luigi %A Standl, Marie %A Lindgren, Cecilia M %A Starr, John M %A Karlsson, Magnus %A Lind, Lars %A Li, Jun Z %A Chambers, John C %A Mori, Trevor A %A de Geus, Eco J C N %A Heath, Andrew C %A Martin, Nicholas G %A Auvinen, Juha %A Buckley, Brendan M %A de Craen, Anton J M %A Waldenberger, Melanie %A Strauch, Konstantin %A Meitinger, Thomas %A Scott, Rodney J %A McEvoy, Mark %A Beekman, Marian %A Bombieri, Cristina %A Ridker, Paul M %A Mohlke, Karen L %A Pedersen, Nancy L %A Morrison, Alanna C %A Boomsma, Dorret I %A Whitfield, John B %A Strachan, David P %A Hofman, Albert %A Vollenweider, Peter %A Cucca, Francesco %A Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta %A Jukema, J Wouter %A Spector, Tim D %A Hamsten, Anders %A Zeller, Tanja %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Nauck, Matthias %A Gudnason, Vilmundur %A Qi, Lu %A Grallert, Harald %A Borecki, Ingrid B %A Rotter, Jerome I %A März, Winfried %A Wild, Philipp S %A Lokki, Marja-Liisa %A Boyle, Michael %A Salomaa, Veikko %A Melbye, Mads %A Eriksson, Johan G %A Wilson, James F %A Penninx, Brenda W J H %A Becker, Diane M %A Worrall, Bradford B %A Gibson, Greg %A Krauss, Ronald M %A Ciullo, Marina %A Zaza, Gianluigi %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Oldehinkel, Albertine J %A Palmer, Lyle J %A Murray, Sarah S %A Pramstaller, Peter P %A Bandinelli, Stefania %A Heinrich, Joachim %A Ingelsson, Erik %A Deary, Ian J %A Mägi, Reedik %A Vandenput, Liesbeth %A van der Harst, Pim %A Desch, Karl C %A Kooner, Jaspal S %A Ohlsson, Claes %A Hayward, Caroline %A Lehtimäki, Terho %A Shuldiner, Alan R %A Arnett, Donna K %A Beilin, Lawrence J %A Robino, Antonietta %A Froguel, Philippe %A Pirastu, Mario %A Jess, Tine %A Koenig, Wolfgang %A Loos, Ruth J F %A Evans, Denis A %A Schmidt, Helena %A Smith, George Davey %A Slagboom, P Eline %A Eiriksdottir, Gudny %A Morris, Andrew P %A Psaty, Bruce M %A Tracy, Russell P %A Nolte, Ilja M %A Boerwinkle, Eric %A Visvikis-Siest, Sophie %A Reiner, Alex P %A Gross, Myron %A Bis, Joshua C %A Franke, Lude %A Franco, Oscar H %A Benjamin, Emelia J %A Chasman, Daniel I %A Dupuis, Josée %A Snieder, Harold %A Dehghan, Abbas %A Alizadeh, Behrooz Z %X

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a sensitive biomarker of chronic low-grade inflammation and is associated with multiple complex diseases. The genetic determinants of chronic inflammation remain largely unknown, and the causal role of CRP in several clinical outcomes is debated. We performed two genome-wide association studies (GWASs), on HapMap and 1000 Genomes imputed data, of circulating amounts of CRP by using data from 88 studies comprising 204,402 European individuals. Additionally, we performed in silico functional analyses and Mendelian randomization analyses with several clinical outcomes. The GWAS meta-analyses of CRP revealed 58 distinct genetic loci (p < 5 × 10). After adjustment for body mass index in the regression analysis, the associations at all except three loci remained. The lead variants at the distinct loci explained up to 7.0% of the variance in circulating amounts of CRP. We identified 66 gene sets that were organized in two substantially correlated clusters, one mainly composed of immune pathways and the other characterized by metabolic pathways in the liver. Mendelian randomization analyses revealed a causal protective effect of CRP on schizophrenia and a risk-increasing effect on bipolar disorder. Our findings provide further insights into the biology of inflammation and could lead to interventions for treating inflammation and its clinical consequences.

%B Am J Hum Genet %V 103 %P 691-706 %8 2018 Nov 01 %G eng %N 5 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30388399?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.09.009 %0 Journal Article %J Nat Genet %D 2018 %T Genome-wide association meta-analysis highlights light-induced signaling as a driver for refractive error. %A Tedja, Milly S %A Wojciechowski, Robert %A Hysi, Pirro G %A Eriksson, Nicholas %A Furlotte, Nicholas A %A Verhoeven, Virginie J M %A Iglesias, Adriana I %A Meester-Smoor, Magda A %A Tompson, Stuart W %A Fan, Qiao %A Khawaja, Anthony P %A Cheng, Ching-Yu %A Höhn, René %A Yamashiro, Kenji %A Wenocur, Adam %A Grazal, Clare %A Haller, Toomas %A Metspalu, Andres %A Wedenoja, Juho %A Jonas, Jost B %A Wang, Ya Xing %A Xie, Jing %A Mitchell, Paul %A Foster, Paul J %A Klein, Barbara E K %A Klein, Ronald %A Paterson, Andrew D %A Hosseini, S Mohsen %A Shah, Rupal L %A Williams, Cathy %A Teo, Yik Ying %A Tham, Yih Chung %A Gupta, Preeti %A Zhao, Wanting %A Shi, Yuan %A Saw, Woei-Yuh %A Tai, E-Shyong %A Sim, Xue Ling %A Huffman, Jennifer E %A Polasek, Ozren %A Hayward, Caroline %A Bencic, Goran %A Rudan, Igor %A Wilson, James F %A Joshi, Peter K %A Tsujikawa, Akitaka %A Matsuda, Fumihiko %A Whisenhunt, Kristina N %A Zeller, Tanja %A van der Spek, Peter J %A Haak, Roxanna %A Meijers-Heijboer, Hanne %A van Leeuwen, Elisabeth M %A Iyengar, Sudha K %A Lass, Jonathan H %A Hofman, Albert %A Rivadeneira, Fernando %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Vingerling, Johannes R %A Lehtimäki, Terho %A Raitakari, Olli T %A Biino, Ginevra %A Concas, Maria Pina %A Schwantes-An, Tae-Hwi %A Igo, Robert P %A Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel %A Martin, Nicholas G %A Craig, Jamie E %A Gharahkhani, Puya %A Williams, Katie M %A Nag, Abhishek %A Rahi, Jugnoo S %A Cumberland, Phillippa M %A Delcourt, Cécile %A Bellenguez, Céline %A Ried, Janina S %A Bergen, Arthur A %A Meitinger, Thomas %A Gieger, Christian %A Wong, Tien Yin %A Hewitt, Alex W %A Mackey, David A %A Simpson, Claire L %A Pfeiffer, Norbert %A Pärssinen, Olavi %A Baird, Paul N %A Vitart, Veronique %A Amin, Najaf %A van Duijn, Cornelia M %A Bailey-Wilson, Joan E %A Young, Terri L %A Saw, Seang-Mei %A Stambolian, Dwight %A MacGregor, Stuart %A Guggenheim, Jeremy A %A Tung, Joyce Y %A Hammond, Christopher J %A Klaver, Caroline C W %X

Refractive errors, including myopia, are the most frequent eye disorders worldwide and an increasingly common cause of blindness. This genome-wide association meta-analysis in 160,420 participants and replication in 95,505 participants increased the number of established independent signals from 37 to 161 and showed high genetic correlation between Europeans and Asians (>0.78). Expression experiments and comprehensive in silico analyses identified retinal cell physiology and light processing as prominent mechanisms, and also identified functional contributions to refractive-error development in all cell types of the neurosensory retina, retinal pigment epithelium, vascular endothelium and extracellular matrix. Newly identified genes implicate novel mechanisms such as rod-and-cone bipolar synaptic neurotransmission, anterior-segment morphology and angiogenesis. Thirty-one loci resided in or near regions transcribing small RNAs, thus suggesting a role for post-transcriptional regulation. Our results support the notion that refractive errors are caused by a light-dependent retina-to-sclera signaling cascade and delineate potential pathobiological molecular drivers.

%B Nat Genet %V 50 %P 834-848 %8 2018 Jun %G eng %N 6 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29808027?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1038/s41588-018-0127-7 %0 Journal Article %J Nat Genet %D 2017 %T Genomic analyses identify hundreds of variants associated with age at menarche and support a role for puberty timing in cancer risk. %A Day, Felix R %A Thompson, Deborah J %A Helgason, Hannes %A Chasman, Daniel I %A Finucane, Hilary %A Sulem, Patrick %A Ruth, Katherine S %A Whalen, Sean %A Sarkar, Abhishek K %A Albrecht, Eva %A Altmaier, Elisabeth %A Amini, Marzyeh %A Barbieri, Caterina M %A Boutin, Thibaud %A Campbell, Archie %A Demerath, Ellen %A Giri, Ayush %A He, Chunyan %A Hottenga, Jouke J %A Karlsson, Robert %A Kolcic, Ivana %A Loh, Po-Ru %A Lunetta, Kathryn L %A Mangino, Massimo %A Marco, Brumat %A McMahon, George %A Medland, Sarah E %A Nolte, Ilja M %A Noordam, Raymond %A Nutile, Teresa %A Paternoster, Lavinia %A Perjakova, Natalia %A Porcu, Eleonora %A Rose, Lynda M %A Schraut, Katharina E %A Segrè, Ayellet V %A Smith, Albert V %A Stolk, Lisette %A Teumer, Alexander %A Andrulis, Irene L %A Bandinelli, Stefania %A Beckmann, Matthias W %A Benitez, Javier %A Bergmann, Sven %A Bochud, Murielle %A Boerwinkle, Eric %A Bojesen, Stig E %A Bolla, Manjeet K %A Brand, Judith S %A Brauch, Hiltrud %A Brenner, Hermann %A Broer, Linda %A Brüning, Thomas %A Buring, Julie E %A Campbell, Harry %A Catamo, Eulalia %A Chanock, Stephen %A Chenevix-Trench, Georgia %A Corre, Tanguy %A Couch, Fergus J %A Cousminer, Diana L %A Cox, Angela %A Crisponi, Laura %A Czene, Kamila %A Davey Smith, George %A de Geus, Eco J C N %A de Mutsert, Renée %A De Vivo, Immaculata %A Dennis, Joe %A Devilee, Peter %A Dos-Santos-Silva, Isabel %A Dunning, Alison M %A Eriksson, Johan G %A Fasching, Peter A %A Fernández-Rhodes, Lindsay %A Ferrucci, Luigi %A Flesch-Janys, Dieter %A Franke, Lude %A Gabrielson, Marike %A Gandin, Ilaria %A Giles, Graham G %A Grallert, Harald %A Gudbjartsson, Daniel F %A Guenel, Pascal %A Hall, Per %A Hallberg, Emily %A Hamann, Ute %A Harris, Tamara B %A Hartman, Catharina A %A Heiss, Gerardo %A Hooning, Maartje J %A Hopper, John L %A Hu, Frank %A Hunter, David J %A Ikram, M Arfan %A Im, Hae Kyung %A Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta %A Joshi, Peter K %A Karasik, David %A Kellis, Manolis %A Kutalik, Zoltán %A LaChance, Genevieve %A Lambrechts, Diether %A Langenberg, Claudia %A Launer, Lenore J %A Laven, Joop S E %A Lenarduzzi, Stefania %A Li, Jingmei %A Lind, Penelope A %A Lindström, Sara %A Liu, Yongmei %A Luan, Jian'an %A Mägi, Reedik %A Mannermaa, Arto %A Mbarek, Hamdi %A McCarthy, Mark I %A Meisinger, Christa %A Meitinger, Thomas %A Menni, Cristina %A Metspalu, Andres %A Michailidou, Kyriaki %A Milani, Lili %A Milne, Roger L %A Montgomery, Grant W %A Mulligan, Anna M %A Nalls, Mike A %A Navarro, Pau %A Nevanlinna, Heli %A Nyholt, Dale R %A Oldehinkel, Albertine J %A O'Mara, Tracy A %A Padmanabhan, Sandosh %A Palotie, Aarno %A Pedersen, Nancy %A Peters, Annette %A Peto, Julian %A Pharoah, Paul D P %A Pouta, Anneli %A Radice, Paolo %A Rahman, Iffat %A Ring, Susan M %A Robino, Antonietta %A Rosendaal, Frits R %A Rudan, Igor %A Rueedi, Rico %A Ruggiero, Daniela %A Sala, Cinzia F %A Schmidt, Marjanka K %A Scott, Robert A %A Shah, Mitul %A Sorice, Rossella %A Southey, Melissa C %A Sovio, Ulla %A Stampfer, Meir %A Steri, Maristella %A Strauch, Konstantin %A Tanaka, Toshiko %A Tikkanen, Emmi %A Timpson, Nicholas J %A Traglia, Michela %A Truong, Therese %A Tyrer, Jonathan P %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Edwards, Digna R Velez %A Vitart, Veronique %A Völker, Uwe %A Vollenweider, Peter %A Wang, Qin %A Widen, Elisabeth %A van Dijk, Ko Willems %A Willemsen, Gonneke %A Winqvist, Robert %A Wolffenbuttel, Bruce H R %A Zhao, Jing Hua %A Zoledziewska, Magdalena %A Zygmunt, Marek %A Alizadeh, Behrooz Z %A Boomsma, Dorret I %A Ciullo, Marina %A Cucca, Francesco %A Esko, Tõnu %A Franceschini, Nora %A Gieger, Christian %A Gudnason, Vilmundur %A Hayward, Caroline %A Kraft, Peter %A Lawlor, Debbie A %A Magnusson, Patrik K E %A Martin, Nicholas G %A Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O %A Nohr, Ellen A %A Polasek, Ozren %A Porteous, David %A Price, Alkes L %A Ridker, Paul M %A Snieder, Harold %A Spector, Tim D %A Stöckl, Doris %A Toniolo, Daniela %A Ulivi, Sheila %A Visser, Jenny A %A Völzke, Henry %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Wilson, James F %A Spurdle, Amanda B %A Thorsteindottir, Unnur %A Pollard, Katherine S %A Easton, Douglas F %A Tung, Joyce Y %A Chang-Claude, Jenny %A Hinds, David %A Murray, Anna %A Murabito, Joanne M %A Stefansson, Kari %A Ong, Ken K %A Perry, John R B %K Adolescent %K Age Factors %K Body Mass Index %K Databases, Genetic %K Female %K Genetic Predisposition to Disease %K Genome-Wide Association Study %K Genomic Imprinting %K Humans %K Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins %K Male %K Membrane Proteins %K Menarche %K Neoplasms %K Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide %K Puberty %K Quantitative Trait Loci %K Ribonucleoproteins %K Risk Factors %X

The timing of puberty is a highly polygenic childhood trait that is epidemiologically associated with various adult diseases. Using 1000 Genomes Project-imputed genotype data in up to ∼370,000 women, we identify 389 independent signals (P < 5 × 10) for age at menarche, a milestone in female pubertal development. In Icelandic data, these signals explain ∼7.4% of the population variance in age at menarche, corresponding to ∼25% of the estimated heritability. We implicate ∼250 genes via coding variation or associated expression, demonstrating significant enrichment in neural tissues. Rare variants near the imprinted genes MKRN3 and DLK1 were identified, exhibiting large effects when paternally inherited. Mendelian randomization analyses suggest causal inverse associations, independent of body mass index (BMI), between puberty timing and risks for breast and endometrial cancers in women and prostate cancer in men. In aggregate, our findings highlight the complexity of the genetic regulation of puberty timing and support causal links with cancer susceptibility.

%B Nat Genet %V 49 %P 834-841 %8 2017 Jun %G eng %N 6 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28436984?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1038/ng.3841 %0 Journal Article %J Hypertension %D 2017 %T Novel Blood Pressure Locus and Gene Discovery Using Genome-Wide Association Study and Expression Data Sets From Blood and the Kidney. %A Wain, Louise V %A Vaez, Ahmad %A Jansen, Rick %A Joehanes, Roby %A van der Most, Peter J %A Erzurumluoglu, A Mesut %A O'Reilly, Paul F %A Cabrera, Claudia P %A Warren, Helen R %A Rose, Lynda M %A Verwoert, Germaine C %A Hottenga, Jouke-Jan %A Strawbridge, Rona J %A Esko, Tõnu %A Arking, Dan E %A Hwang, Shih-Jen %A Guo, Xiuqing %A Kutalik, Zoltán %A Trompet, Stella %A Shrine, Nick %A Teumer, Alexander %A Ried, Janina S %A Bis, Joshua C %A Smith, Albert V %A Amin, Najaf %A Nolte, Ilja M %A Lyytikäinen, Leo-Pekka %A Mahajan, Anubha %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Hofer, Edith %A Joshi, Peter K %A Kristiansson, Kati %A Traglia, Michela %A Havulinna, Aki S %A Goel, Anuj %A Nalls, Mike A %A Sõber, Siim %A Vuckovic, Dragana %A Luan, Jian'an %A del Greco M, Fabiola %A Ayers, Kristin L %A Marrugat, Jaume %A Ruggiero, Daniela %A Lopez, Lorna M %A Niiranen, Teemu %A Enroth, Stefan %A Jackson, Anne U %A Nelson, Christopher P %A Huffman, Jennifer E %A Zhang, Weihua %A Marten, Jonathan %A Gandin, Ilaria %A Harris, Sarah E %A Zemunik, Tatijana %A Lu, Yingchang %A Evangelou, Evangelos %A Shah, Nabi %A de Borst, Martin H %A Mangino, Massimo %A Prins, Bram P %A Campbell, Archie %A Li-Gao, Ruifang %A Chauhan, Ganesh %A Oldmeadow, Christopher %A Abecasis, Goncalo %A Abedi, Maryam %A Barbieri, Caterina M %A Barnes, Michael R %A Batini, Chiara %A Beilby, John %A Blake, Tineka %A Boehnke, Michael %A Bottinger, Erwin P %A Braund, Peter S %A Brown, Morris %A Brumat, Marco %A Campbell, Harry %A Chambers, John C %A Cocca, Massimiliano %A Collins, Francis %A Connell, John %A Cordell, Heather J %A Damman, Jeffrey J %A Davies, Gail %A de Geus, Eco J %A de Mutsert, Renée %A Deelen, Joris %A Demirkale, Yusuf %A Doney, Alex S F %A Dörr, Marcus %A Farrall, Martin %A Ferreira, Teresa %A Frånberg, Mattias %A Gao, He %A Giedraitis, Vilmantas %A Gieger, Christian %A Giulianini, Franco %A Gow, Alan J %A Hamsten, Anders %A Harris, Tamara B %A Hofman, Albert %A Holliday, Elizabeth G %A Hui, Jennie %A Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta %A Johansson, Åsa %A Johnson, Andrew D %A Jousilahti, Pekka %A Jula, Antti %A Kähönen, Mika %A Kathiresan, Sekar %A Khaw, Kay-Tee %A Kolcic, Ivana %A Koskinen, Seppo %A Langenberg, Claudia %A Larson, Marty %A Launer, Lenore J %A Lehne, Benjamin %A Liewald, David C M %A Lin, Li %A Lind, Lars %A Mach, François %A Mamasoula, Chrysovalanto %A Menni, Cristina %A Mifsud, Borbala %A Milaneschi, Yuri %A Morgan, Anna %A Morris, Andrew D %A Morrison, Alanna C %A Munson, Peter J %A Nandakumar, Priyanka %A Nguyen, Quang Tri %A Nutile, Teresa %A Oldehinkel, Albertine J %A Oostra, Ben A %A Org, Elin %A Padmanabhan, Sandosh %A Palotie, Aarno %A Paré, Guillaume %A Pattie, Alison %A Penninx, Brenda W J H %A Poulter, Neil %A Pramstaller, Peter P %A Raitakari, Olli T %A Ren, Meixia %A Rice, Kenneth %A Ridker, Paul M %A Riese, Harriëtte %A Ripatti, Samuli %A Robino, Antonietta %A Rotter, Jerome I %A Rudan, Igor %A Saba, Yasaman %A Saint Pierre, Aude %A Sala, Cinzia F %A Sarin, Antti-Pekka %A Schmidt, Reinhold %A Scott, Rodney %A Seelen, Marc A %A Shields, Denis C %A Siscovick, David %A Sorice, Rossella %A Stanton, Alice %A Stott, David J %A Sundström, Johan %A Swertz, Morris %A Taylor, Kent D %A Thom, Simon %A Tzoulaki, Ioanna %A Tzourio, Christophe %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Völker, Uwe %A Vollenweider, Peter %A Wild, Sarah %A Willemsen, Gonneke %A Wright, Alan F %A Yao, Jie %A Thériault, Sébastien %A Conen, David %A Attia, John %A Sever, Peter %A Debette, Stéphanie %A Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O %A Zeggini, Eleftheria %A Spector, Tim D %A van der Harst, Pim %A Palmer, Colin N A %A Vergnaud, Anne-Claire %A Loos, Ruth J F %A Polasek, Ozren %A Starr, John M %A Girotto, Giorgia %A Hayward, Caroline %A Kooner, Jaspal S %A Lindgren, Cecila M %A Vitart, Veronique %A Samani, Nilesh J %A Tuomilehto, Jaakko %A Gyllensten, Ulf %A Knekt, Paul %A Deary, Ian J %A Ciullo, Marina %A Elosua, Roberto %A Keavney, Bernard D %A Hicks, Andrew A %A Scott, Robert A %A Gasparini, Paolo %A Laan, Maris %A Liu, Yongmei %A Watkins, Hugh %A Hartman, Catharina A %A Salomaa, Veikko %A Toniolo, Daniela %A Perola, Markus %A Wilson, James F %A Schmidt, Helena %A Zhao, Jing Hua %A Lehtimäki, Terho %A van Duijn, Cornelia M %A Gudnason, Vilmundur %A Psaty, Bruce M %A Peters, Annette %A Rettig, Rainer %A James, Alan %A Jukema, J Wouter %A Strachan, David P %A Palmas, Walter %A Metspalu, Andres %A Ingelsson, Erik %A Boomsma, Dorret I %A Franco, Oscar H %A Bochud, Murielle %A Newton-Cheh, Christopher %A Munroe, Patricia B %A Elliott, Paul %A Chasman, Daniel I %A Chakravarti, Aravinda %A Knight, Joanne %A Morris, Andrew P %A Levy, Daniel %A Tobin, Martin D %A Snieder, Harold %A Caulfield, Mark J %A Ehret, Georg B %X

Elevated blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and has a substantial genetic contribution. Genetic variation influencing blood pressure has the potential to identify new pharmacological targets for the treatment of hypertension. To discover additional novel blood pressure loci, we used 1000 Genomes Project-based imputation in 150 134 European ancestry individuals and sought significant evidence for independent replication in a further 228 245 individuals. We report 6 new signals of association in or near , , , , , and , and provide new replication evidence for a further 2 signals in and Combining large whole-blood gene expression resources totaling 12 607 individuals, we investigated all novel and previously reported signals and identified 48 genes with evidence for involvement in blood pressure regulation that are significant in multiple resources. Three novel kidney-specific signals were also detected. These robustly implicated genes may provide new leads for therapeutic innovation.

%B Hypertension %8 2017 Jul 24 %G eng %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28739976?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.117.09438 %0 Journal Article %J Nature %D 2016 %T Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment. %A Okbay, Aysu %A Beauchamp, Jonathan P %A Fontana, Mark Alan %A Lee, James J %A Pers, Tune H %A Rietveld, Cornelius A %A Turley, Patrick %A Chen, Guo-Bo %A Emilsson, Valur %A Meddens, S Fleur W %A Oskarsson, Sven %A Pickrell, Joseph K %A Thom, Kevin %A Timshel, Pascal %A de Vlaming, Ronald %A Abdellaoui, Abdel %A Ahluwalia, Tarunveer S %A Bacelis, Jonas %A Baumbach, Clemens %A Bjornsdottir, Gyda %A Brandsma, Johannes H %A Pina Concas, Maria %A Derringer, Jaime %A Furlotte, Nicholas A %A Galesloot, Tessel E %A Girotto, Giorgia %A Gupta, Richa %A Hall, Leanne M %A Harris, Sarah E %A Hofer, Edith %A Horikoshi, Momoko %A Huffman, Jennifer E %A Kaasik, Kadri %A Kalafati, Ioanna P %A Karlsson, Robert %A Kong, Augustine %A Lahti, Jari %A van der Lee, Sven J %A deLeeuw, Christiaan %A Lind, Penelope A %A Lindgren, Karl-Oskar %A Liu, Tian %A Mangino, Massimo %A Marten, Jonathan %A Mihailov, Evelin %A Miller, Michael B %A van der Most, Peter J %A Oldmeadow, Christopher %A Payton, Antony %A Pervjakova, Natalia %A Peyrot, Wouter J %A Qian, Yong %A Raitakari, Olli %A Rueedi, Rico %A Salvi, Erika %A Schmidt, Börge %A Schraut, Katharina E %A Shi, Jianxin %A Smith, Albert V %A Poot, Raymond A %A St Pourcain, Beate %A Teumer, Alexander %A Thorleifsson, Gudmar %A Verweij, Niek %A Vuckovic, Dragana %A Wellmann, Juergen %A Westra, Harm-Jan %A Yang, Jingyun %A Zhao, Wei %A Zhu, Zhihong %A Alizadeh, Behrooz Z %A Amin, Najaf %A Bakshi, Andrew %A Baumeister, Sebastian E %A Biino, Ginevra %A Bønnelykke, Klaus %A Boyle, Patricia A %A Campbell, Harry %A Cappuccio, Francesco P %A Davies, Gail %A De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel %A Deloukas, Panos %A Demuth, Ilja %A Ding, Jun %A Eibich, Peter %A Eisele, Lewin %A Eklund, Niina %A Evans, David M %A Faul, Jessica D %A Feitosa, Mary F %A Forstner, Andreas J %A Gandin, Ilaria %A Gunnarsson, Bjarni %A Halldórsson, Bjarni V %A Harris, Tamara B %A Heath, Andrew C %A Hocking, Lynne J %A Holliday, Elizabeth G %A Homuth, Georg %A Horan, Michael A %A Hottenga, Jouke-Jan %A de Jager, Philip L %A Joshi, Peter K %A Jugessur, Astanand %A Kaakinen, Marika A %A Kähönen, Mika %A Kanoni, Stavroula %A Keltigangas-Järvinen, Liisa %A Kiemeney, Lambertus A L M %A Kolcic, Ivana %A Koskinen, Seppo %A Kraja, Aldi T %A Kroh, Martin %A Kutalik, Zoltán %A Latvala, Antti %A Launer, Lenore J %A Lebreton, Maël P %A Levinson, Douglas F %A Lichtenstein, Paul %A Lichtner, Peter %A Liewald, David C M %A Loukola, Anu %A Madden, Pamela A %A Mägi, Reedik %A Mäki-Opas, Tomi %A Marioni, Riccardo E %A Marques-Vidal, Pedro %A Meddens, Gerardus A %A McMahon, George %A Meisinger, Christa %A Meitinger, Thomas %A Milaneschi, Yusplitri %A Milani, Lili %A Montgomery, Grant W %A Myhre, Ronny %A Nelson, Christopher P %A Nyholt, Dale R %A Ollier, William E R %A Palotie, Aarno %A Paternoster, Lavinia %A Pedersen, Nancy L %A Petrovic, Katja E %A Porteous, David J %A Räikkönen, Katri %A Ring, Susan M %A Robino, Antonietta %A Rostapshova, Olga %A Rudan, Igor %A Rustichini, Aldo %A Salomaa, Veikko %A Sanders, Alan R %A Sarin, Antti-Pekka %A Schmidt, Helena %A Scott, Rodney J %A Smith, Blair H %A Smith, Jennifer A %A Staessen, Jan A %A Steinhagen-Thiessen, Elisabeth %A Strauch, Konstantin %A Terracciano, Antonio %A Tobin, Martin D %A Ulivi, Sheila %A Vaccargiu, Simona %A Quaye, Lydia %A van Rooij, Frank J A %A Venturini, Cristina %A Vinkhuyzen, Anna A E %A Völker, Uwe %A Völzke, Henry %A Vonk, Judith M %A Vozzi, Diego %A Waage, Johannes %A Ware, Erin B %A Willemsen, Gonneke %A Attia, John R %A Bennett, David A %A Berger, Klaus %A Bertram, Lars %A Bisgaard, Hans %A Boomsma, Dorret I %A Borecki, Ingrid B %A Bültmann, Ute %A Chabris, Christopher F %A Cucca, Francesco %A Cusi, Daniele %A Deary, Ian J %A Dedoussis, George V %A van Duijn, Cornelia M %A Eriksson, Johan G %A Franke, Barbara %A Franke, Lude %A Gasparini, Paolo %A Gejman, Pablo V %A Gieger, Christian %A Grabe, Hans-Jörgen %A Gratten, Jacob %A Groenen, Patrick J F %A Gudnason, Vilmundur %A van der Harst, Pim %A Hayward, Caroline %A Hinds, David A %A Hoffmann, Wolfgang %A Hyppönen, Elina %A Iacono, William G %A Jacobsson, Bo %A Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta %A Jöckel, Karl-Heinz %A Kaprio, Jaakko %A Kardia, Sharon L R %A Lehtimäki, Terho %A Lehrer, Steven F %A Magnusson, Patrik K E %A Martin, Nicholas G %A McGue, Matt %A Metspalu, Andres %A Pendleton, Neil %A Penninx, Brenda W J H %A Perola, Markus %A Pirastu, Nicola %A Pirastu, Mario %A Polasek, Ozren %A Posthuma, Danielle %A Power, Christine %A Province, Michael A %A Samani, Nilesh J %A Schlessinger, David %A Schmidt, Reinhold %A Sørensen, Thorkild I A %A Spector, Tim D %A Stefansson, Kari %A Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur %A Thurik, A Roy %A Timpson, Nicholas J %A Tiemeier, Henning %A Tung, Joyce Y %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Vitart, Veronique %A Vollenweider, Peter %A Weir, David R %A Wilson, James F %A Wright, Alan F %A Conley, Dalton C %A Krueger, Robert F %A Davey Smith, George %A Hofman, Albert %A Laibson, David I %A Medland, Sarah E %A Meyer, Michelle N %A Yang, Jian %A Johannesson, Magnus %A Visscher, Peter M %A Esko, Tõnu %A Koellinger, Philipp D %A Cesarini, David %A Benjamin, Daniel J %K Alzheimer Disease %K Bipolar Disorder %K Brain %K Cognition %K Computational Biology %K Educational Status %K Fetus %K Gene Expression Regulation %K Gene-Environment Interaction %K Genome-Wide Association Study %K Great Britain %K Humans %K Molecular Sequence Annotation %K Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide %K Schizophrenia %X

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.

%B Nature %V 533 %P 539-42 %8 2016 May 26 %G eng %N 7604 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27225129?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1038/nature17671 %0 Journal Article %J Nature %D 2015 %T Directional dominance on stature and cognition in diverse human populations. %A Joshi, Peter K %A Esko, Tõnu %A Mattsson, Hannele %A Eklund, Niina %A Gandin, Ilaria %A Nutile, Teresa %A Jackson, Anne U %A Schurmann, Claudia %A Smith, Albert V %A Zhang, Weihua %A Okada, Yukinori %A Stančáková, Alena %A Faul, Jessica D %A Zhao, Wei %A Bartz, Traci M %A Concas, Maria Pina %A Franceschini, Nora %A Enroth, Stefan %A Vitart, Veronique %A Trompet, Stella %A Guo, Xiuqing %A Chasman, Daniel I %A O'Connel, Jeffrey R %A Corre, Tanguy %A Nongmaithem, Suraj S %A Chen, Yuning %A Mangino, Massimo %A Ruggiero, Daniela %A Traglia, Michela %A Farmaki, Aliki-Eleni %A Kacprowski, Tim %A Bjonnes, Andrew %A van der Spek, Ashley %A Wu, Ying %A Giri, Anil K %A Yanek, Lisa R %A Wang, Lihua %A Hofer, Edith %A Rietveld, Cornelius A %A McLeod, Olga %A Cornelis, Marilyn C %A Pattaro, Cristian %A Verweij, Niek %A Baumbach, Clemens %A Abdellaoui, Abdel %A Warren, Helen R %A Vuckovic, Dragana %A Mei, Hao %A Bouchard, Claude %A Perry, John R B %A Cappellani, Stefania %A Mirza, Saira S %A Benton, Miles C %A Broeckel, Ulrich %A Medland, Sarah E %A Lind, Penelope A %A Malerba, Giovanni %A Drong, Alexander %A Yengo, Loic %A Bielak, Lawrence F %A Zhi, Degui %A van der Most, Peter J %A Shriner, Daniel %A Mägi, Reedik %A Hemani, Gibran %A Karaderi, Tugce %A Wang, Zhaoming %A Liu, Tian %A Demuth, Ilja %A Zhao, Jing Hua %A Meng, Weihua %A Lataniotis, Lazaros %A van der Laan, Sander W %A Bradfield, Jonathan P %A Wood, Andrew R %A Bonnefond, Amelie %A Ahluwalia, Tarunveer S %A Hall, Leanne M %A Salvi, Erika %A Yazar, Seyhan %A Carstensen, Lisbeth %A de Haan, Hugoline G %A Abney, Mark %A Afzal, Uzma %A Allison, Matthew A %A Amin, Najaf %A Asselbergs, Folkert W %A Bakker, Stephan J L %A Barr, R Graham %A Baumeister, Sebastian E %A Benjamin, Daniel J %A Bergmann, Sven %A Boerwinkle, Eric %A Bottinger, Erwin P %A Campbell, Archie %A Chakravarti, Aravinda %A Chan, Yingleong %A Chanock, Stephen J %A Chen, Constance %A Chen, Y-D Ida %A Collins, Francis S %A Connell, John %A Correa, Adolfo %A Cupples, L Adrienne %A Smith, George Davey %A Davies, Gail %A Dörr, Marcus %A Ehret, Georg %A Ellis, Stephen B %A Feenstra, Bjarke %A Feitosa, Mary F %A Ford, Ian %A Fox, Caroline S %A Frayling, Timothy M %A Friedrich, Nele %A Geller, Frank %A Scotland, Generation %A Gillham-Nasenya, Irina %A Gottesman, Omri %A Graff, Misa %A Grodstein, Francine %A Gu, Charles %A Haley, Chris %A Hammond, Christopher J %A Harris, Sarah E %A Harris, Tamara B %A Hastie, Nicholas D %A Heard-Costa, Nancy L %A Heikkilä, Kauko %A Hocking, Lynne J %A Homuth, Georg %A Hottenga, Jouke-Jan %A Huang, Jinyan %A Huffman, Jennifer E %A Hysi, Pirro G %A Ikram, M Arfan %A Ingelsson, Erik %A Joensuu, Anni %A Johansson, Åsa %A Jousilahti, Pekka %A Jukema, J Wouter %A Kähönen, Mika %A Kamatani, Yoichiro %A Kanoni, Stavroula %A Kerr, Shona M %A Khan, Nazir M %A Koellinger, Philipp %A Koistinen, Heikki A %A Kooner, Manraj K %A Kubo, Michiaki %A Kuusisto, Johanna %A Lahti, Jari %A Launer, Lenore J %A Lea, Rodney A %A Lehne, Benjamin %A Lehtimäki, Terho %A Liewald, David C M %A Lind, Lars %A Loh, Marie %A Lokki, Marja-Liisa %A London, Stephanie J %A Loomis, Stephanie J %A Loukola, Anu %A Lu, Yingchang %A Lumley, Thomas %A Lundqvist, Annamari %A Männistö, Satu %A Marques-Vidal, Pedro %A Masciullo, Corrado %A Matchan, Angela %A Mathias, Rasika A %A Matsuda, Koichi %A Meigs, James B %A Meisinger, Christa %A Meitinger, Thomas %A Menni, Cristina %A Mentch, Frank D %A Mihailov, Evelin %A Milani, Lili %A Montasser, May E %A Montgomery, Grant W %A Morrison, Alanna %A Myers, Richard H %A Nadukuru, Rajiv %A Navarro, Pau %A Nelis, Mari %A Nieminen, Markku S %A Nolte, Ilja M %A O'Connor, George T %A Ogunniyi, Adesola %A Padmanabhan, Sandosh %A Palmas, Walter R %A Pankow, James S %A Patarcic, Inga %A Pavani, Francesca %A Peyser, Patricia A %A Pietilainen, Kirsi %A Poulter, Neil %A Prokopenko, Inga %A Ralhan, Sarju %A Redmond, Paul %A Rich, Stephen S %A Rissanen, Harri %A Robino, Antonietta %A Rose, Lynda M %A Rose, Richard %A Sala, Cinzia %A Salako, Babatunde %A Salomaa, Veikko %A Sarin, Antti-Pekka %A Saxena, Richa %A Schmidt, Helena %A Scott, Laura J %A Scott, William R %A Sennblad, Bengt %A Seshadri, Sudha %A Sever, Peter %A Shrestha, Smeeta %A Smith, Blair H %A Smith, Jennifer A %A Soranzo, Nicole %A Sotoodehnia, Nona %A Southam, Lorraine %A Stanton, Alice V %A Stathopoulou, Maria G %A Strauch, Konstantin %A Strawbridge, Rona J %A Suderman, Matthew J %A Tandon, Nikhil %A Tang, Sian-Tsun %A Taylor, Kent D %A Tayo, Bamidele O %A Töglhofer, Anna Maria %A Tomaszewski, Maciej %A Tšernikova, Natalia %A Tuomilehto, Jaakko %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Vaidya, Dhananjay %A van Hylckama Vlieg, Astrid %A van Setten, Jessica %A Vasankari, Tuula %A Vedantam, Sailaja %A Vlachopoulou, Efthymia %A Vozzi, Diego %A Vuoksimaa, Eero %A Waldenberger, Melanie %A Ware, Erin B %A Wentworth-Shields, William %A Whitfield, John B %A Wild, Sarah %A Willemsen, Gonneke %A Yajnik, Chittaranjan S %A Yao, Jie %A Zaza, Gianluigi %A Zhu, Xiaofeng %A Salem, Rany M %A Melbye, Mads %A Bisgaard, Hans %A Samani, Nilesh J %A Cusi, Daniele %A Mackey, David A %A Cooper, Richard S %A Froguel, Philippe %A Pasterkamp, Gerard %A Grant, Struan F A %A Hakonarson, Hakon %A Ferrucci, Luigi %A Scott, Robert A %A Morris, Andrew D %A Palmer, Colin N A %A Dedoussis, George %A Deloukas, Panos %A Bertram, Lars %A Lindenberger, Ulman %A Berndt, Sonja I %A Lindgren, Cecilia M %A Timpson, Nicholas J %A Tönjes, Anke %A Munroe, Patricia B %A Sørensen, Thorkild I A %A Rotimi, Charles N %A Arnett, Donna K %A Oldehinkel, Albertine J %A Kardia, Sharon L R %A Balkau, Beverley %A Gambaro, Giovanni %A Morris, Andrew P %A Eriksson, Johan G %A Wright, Margie J %A Martin, Nicholas G %A Hunt, Steven C %A Starr, John M %A Deary, Ian J %A Griffiths, Lyn R %A Tiemeier, Henning %A Pirastu, Nicola %A Kaprio, Jaakko %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Pérusse, Louis %A Wilson, James G %A Girotto, Giorgia %A Caulfield, Mark J %A Raitakari, Olli %A Boomsma, Dorret I %A Gieger, Christian %A van der Harst, Pim %A Hicks, Andrew A %A Kraft, Peter %A Sinisalo, Juha %A Knekt, Paul %A Johannesson, Magnus %A Magnusson, Patrik K E %A Hamsten, Anders %A Schmidt, Reinhold %A Borecki, Ingrid B %A Vartiainen, Erkki %A Becker, Diane M %A Bharadwaj, Dwaipayan %A Mohlke, Karen L %A Boehnke, Michael %A van Duijn, Cornelia M %A Sanghera, Dharambir K %A Teumer, Alexander %A Zeggini, Eleftheria %A Metspalu, Andres %A Gasparini, Paolo %A Ulivi, Sheila %A Ober, Carole %A Toniolo, Daniela %A Rudan, Igor %A Porteous, David J %A Ciullo, Marina %A Spector, Tim D %A Hayward, Caroline %A Dupuis, Josée %A Loos, Ruth J F %A Wright, Alan F %A Chandak, Giriraj R %A Vollenweider, Peter %A Shuldiner, Alan R %A Ridker, Paul M %A Rotter, Jerome I %A Sattar, Naveed %A Gyllensten, Ulf %A North, Kari E %A Pirastu, Mario %A Psaty, Bruce M %A Weir, David R %A Laakso, Markku %A Gudnason, Vilmundur %A Takahashi, Atsushi %A Chambers, John C %A Kooner, Jaspal S %A Strachan, David P %A Campbell, Harry %A Hirschhorn, Joel N %A Perola, Markus %A Polasek, Ozren %A Wilson, James F %K Biological Evolution %K Blood Pressure %K Body Height %K Cholesterol, LDL %K Cognition %K Cohort Studies %K Educational Status %K Female %K Forced Expiratory Volume %K Genome, Human %K Homozygote %K Humans %K Lung Volume Measurements %K Male %K Phenotype %X

Homozygosity has long been associated with rare, often devastating, Mendelian disorders, and Darwin was one of the first to recognize that inbreeding reduces evolutionary fitness. However, the effect of the more distant parental relatedness that is common in modern human populations is less well understood. Genomic data now allow us to investigate the effects of homozygosity on traits of public health importance by observing contiguous homozygous segments (runs of homozygosity), which are inferred to be homozygous along their complete length. Given the low levels of genome-wide homozygosity prevalent in most human populations, information is required on very large numbers of people to provide sufficient power. Here we use runs of homozygosity to study 16 health-related quantitative traits in 354,224 individuals from 102 cohorts, and find statistically significant associations between summed runs of homozygosity and four complex traits: height, forced expiratory lung volume in one second, general cognitive ability and educational attainment (P < 1 × 10(-300), 2.1 × 10(-6), 2.5 × 10(-10) and 1.8 × 10(-10), respectively). In each case, increased homozygosity was associated with decreased trait value, equivalent to the offspring of first cousins being 1.2 cm shorter and having 10 months' less education. Similar effect sizes were found across four continental groups and populations with different degrees of genome-wide homozygosity, providing evidence that homozygosity, rather than confounding, directly contributes to phenotypic variance. Contrary to earlier reports in substantially smaller samples, no evidence was seen of an influence of genome-wide homozygosity on blood pressure and low density lipoprotein cholesterol, or ten other cardio-metabolic traits. Since directional dominance is predicted for traits under directional evolutionary selection, this study provides evidence that increased stature and cognitive function have been positively selected in human evolution, whereas many important risk factors for late-onset complex diseases may not have been.

%B Nature %V 523 %P 459-62 %8 2015 Jul 23 %G eng %N 7561 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26131930?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1038/nature14618