Detection of human adaptation during the past 2000 years
Open accessPublished version of a preprint
Abstract
Identifying genes under recent selection: Evolutionary analyses aim to identify recent genetic changes that are likely to have been subject to selection. Field et al. present a method to identify such changes, the singleton density score, which they applied to over 3000 human genomes. Over the past ∼100 generations (2000 to 3000 years), Europeans are likely to have experienced selection for genetic variants, including those that affect skin and hair pigmentation, as well as height. Science , this issue p. 760
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A previous study reporting polygenic adaptation on height in the UK population was found to be biased by population stratification in the GIANT consortium.
“A previous study reporting polygenic adaptation on height in the UK population was found to be biased by population stratification in the Genetic Investigation of ANthropometric Traits (GIANT) consortium26–28.”
From Within-sibship genome-wide association analyses decrease bias in estimates of direct genetic effects (2022) · cites this paper as [28]
The height-analysis passage (section labeled Abstract; page unavailable) reports polygenic selection for increased height in the ancestors of modern Britons. It does not report that this finding was later found to be biased by population stratification in GIANT; instead, it says the observed correlation was not an artifact of uncontrolled population structure in the GWAS. This source supports the identification of the previous study, not the later bias finding. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPolygenic adaptation was estimated using similar methods to a previous publication.
“Polygenic adaptation was estimated using similar methods to a previous publication28.”
From Within-sibship genome-wide association analyses decrease bias in estimates of direct genetic effects (2022) · cites this paper as [28]
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- Authors
- Field, Y., Boyle, E. A., Telis, N., Gao, Z., Gaulton, K. J., Golan, D., Yengo, L., Rocheleau, G., Froguel, P., McCarthy, M. I., & Pritchard, J. K.
- Affiliations
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- Centre for Human Genetics (GB)
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Institut Pasteur de Lille, UMR 8199–EGID, F-59000 Lille, France.
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Field, Yair
- Pritchard, Jonathan K.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2016-11-11
- Volume
- 354
- Issue
- 6313
- Pages
- 760-764
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- PMC
- PMC5182071
- OpenAlex
- W2531014594
- Cited by
- 383
- References
- 21
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 49 · 2020: 45 · 2019: 41 · 2018: 47 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 6
- FWCI
- 36.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- NIH (ES025009, 5T32HG000044-19, MH101825)
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
- Keywords
- allele frequency change, polygenic adaptation, lactase persistence, major histocompatibility complex, hair color, eye color, height, human population history, complex traits
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Physiological, Eye Color, Gene Frequency, United Kingdom, Hair Color, Haplotypes, Humans, Major Histocompatibility Complex, Pedigree, Selection, Genetic, Genome, Human, Lactase, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genetic Loci
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