Genetic correlates of social stratification in Great Britain

• Published in: Nature human behaviour Vol. 3; no. 12; pp. 1332 - 1342
• Main Authors: Abdellaoui, Abdel, Hugh-Jones, David, Yengo, Loic, Kemper, Kathryn E., Nivard, Michel G., Veul, Laura, Holtz, Yan, Zietsch, Brendan P., Frayling, Timothy M., Wray, Naomi R., Yang, Jian, Verweij, Karin J. H., Visscher, Peter M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.12.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 4014/159; 45; 45/43; 631/208; 631/208/1515; 631/208/205; 631/208/457; Adipose Tissue; Alleles; Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Body Height - genetics; Body Mass Index; Cluster Analysis; Clustering; Coal; Coal mining; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Educational attainment; Educational Status; Emigration and Immigration; Experimental Psychology; Genetics; Geographic distribution; Geographic Mapping; Health Status; Humans; Life Sciences; Microeconomics; Migration; Mining industry; Multifactorial Inheritance - genetics; Neurosciences; Personality and Social Psychology; Phenotype; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Regional variations; Regions; Social Class; Social stratification; Socioeconomic status; United Kingdom; Variants; Whites - genetics; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 2397-3374; 2397-3374
• DOI: 10.1038/s41562-019-0757-5

Human DNA polymorphisms vary across geographic regions, with the most commonly observed variation reflecting distant ancestry differences. Here we investigate the geographic clustering of common genetic variants that influence complex traits in a sample of ~450,000 individuals from Great Britain. Of 33 traits analysed, 21 showed significant geographic clustering at the genetic level after controlling for ancestry, probably reflecting migration driven by socioeconomic status (SES). Alleles associated with educational attainment (EA) showed the most clustering, with EA-decreasing alleles clustering in lower SES areas such as coal mining areas. Individuals who leave coal mining areas carry more EA-increasing alleles on average than those in the rest of Great Britain. The level of geographic clustering is correlated with genetic associations between complex traits and regional measures of SES, health and cultural outcomes. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that social stratification leaves visible marks in geographic arrangements of common allele frequencies and gene–environment correlations. Abdellaoui et al. examine the geographic distribution of human DNA differences in Great Britain, finding that the geographic distribution of polygenic scores for educational attainment and other complex traits resembles the geographic distribution of economic differences.