An interesting new paper. I wonder how ecologists fit into the equation.
Kong, A., M. L. Frigge, G. Thorleifsson, H. Stefansson, A. I. Young, F. Zink, G. A. Jonsdottir, A. Okbay, P. Sulem, G. Masson, D. F. Gudbjartsson, A. Helgason, G. Bjornsdottir, U. Thorsteinsdottir and K. Stefansson (2017). "Selection against variants in the genome associated with educational attainment." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114(5): E727-E732.
Epidemiological studies suggest that educational attainment is affected by genetic variants. Results from recent genetic studies allow us to construct a score from a person’s genotypes that captures a portion of this genetic component. Using data from Iceland that include a substantial fraction of the population we show that individuals with high scores tend to have fewer children, mainly because they have children later in life. Consequently, the average score has been decreasing over time in the population. The rate of decrease is small per generation but marked on an evolutionary timescale. Another important observation is that the association between the score and fertility remains highly significant after adjusting for the educational attainment of the individuals.
http://www.pnas.org/content/114/5/E727.abstract.html?etoc -- Dr. David W. Inouye Professor Emeritus Department of Biology University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742-4415 [email protected] Principal Investigator Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory PO Box 519 Crested Butte, CO 81224
