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AI Summary.Analysis of ancient DNA from 15,836 West Eurasians estimates selection coefficients at 9.7m genetic variants and finds pervasive directional selection, including increases in genetic scores for light skin pigmentation and negative selection against variants linked to type 2 diabetes risk and psychoses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Ali Akbari, Annabel Perry, Alison Barton, Mohammadreza Kariminejad, et al.Nature
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Ancient DNA from 15,836 West Eurasians reveals that natural selection accelerated dramatically in the past 10,000 years, following the agricultural revolution. The strongest selection drove improved immune function and lighter skin pigmentation.
Has human genetic selection continued to shape traits across West Eurasia?
Core argument: Applying a new test for directional selection to ancient DNA from 15,836 West Eurasians, 10,016 with newly reported data, the authors estimate selection coefficients at 9.7 million variants to study how selection shapes the genetic architecture of complex traits.
We present a method for detecting directional selection in ancient DNA time-series data that tests for consistent trends in allele frequency change over time, and apply it to 15,836 West Eurasians (10,016 with new data). We estimate selection coefficients at 9.7 million variants, enabling study of how Darwinian forces couple to allelic effects and shape the genetic architecture of complex traits. We focused on 12 traits of particular interest with significant signals from all three tests (Figure 4). One of the strongest signals is an increase over time in the PGS for light skin pigmentation. Type 2 diabetes risk factors give compelling signals of negative selection. We detected negative polygenic selection against alleles associated today with psychoses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. We finally observed signals of selection for combinations of alleles that today are associated with three correlated behavioural traits: scores on intelligence tests, household income and years of schooling. An important caveat is [that] these effects were measured in industrialized societies, and it remains unclear how these relate to phenotypes that were adaptive in the past.
Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI
Applying a new test for directional selection to ancient DNA from 15,836 West Eurasians, 10,016 with newly reported data, the authors estimate selection coefficients at 9.7 million variants to study how selection shapes the genetic architecture of complex traits.
Among 12 traits with significant signals from all three tests, one of the strongest is an increase over time in the polygenic score for light skin pigmentation, alongside negative selection on type 2 diabetes risk factors and on alleles associated today with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
The authors observed signals of selection on combinations of alleles associated today with intelligence test scores, household income, and years of schooling, while cautioning that these effects were measured in industrialized societies and their relation to past adaptive phenotypes remains unclear.
Related Articles:
Pervasive Findings of Directional Selection Realize the Promise of Ancient DNA to Elucidate Human Adaptation— Analyzing ancient DNA for consistent trends in gene-variant frequency over time, the authors report that many hundreds of gene variants were affected by strong directional selection over the last ten millennia. They identify selection for variant combinations today associated with lighter skin color, lower schizophrenia and bipolar risk, slower health decline, and higher intelligence-test scores, income, and schooling.
Animal Mutation Rates Reveal Traits That Speed Evolution— An analysis of 68 vertebrate species published in Nature found germline mutation rates varied about 40-fold per generation but roughly 120-fold per year, a wider range than earlier studies suggested. The authors found species with larger effective population sizes had lower mutation rates, evidence for the "drift-barrier hypothesis" that natural selection weakens against mutation in smaller populations.
Frontiers Evolutionary Trajectories of Complex Traits in European Populations of Modern Humans— Genome-wide polygenic scores indicate European populations after the Neolithic period show increases in height, educational attainment, and intelligence scores, alongside decreases in scores for unipolar depression. The authors associate this shift from relative stagnation to accelerated evolutionary change with the spread of agriculture and animal domestication.
