RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Geographic Clustering of Polygenic Scores at Different Stages of the Life Course
JF RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
FD Russell Sage Foundation
SP 137
OP 149
DO 10.7758/RSF.2018.4.4.08
VO 4
IS 4
A1 Benjamin W. Domingue
A1 David H. Rehkopf
A1 Dalton Conley
A1 Jason D. Boardman
YR 2018
UL http://www.rsfjournal.org/content/4/4/137.abstract
AB We interrogate state-level clustering of polygenic scores at different points in the life course and variation in the association of mean polygenic scores in a respondent’s state of birth with corresponding phenotypes. The polygenic scores for height and smoking show the most state-level clustering (2 to 4 percent) with relatively little clustering observed for the other scores. However, even the small amounts of observed clustering are potentially meaningful. The state-mean polygenic score for educational attainment is strongly associated with an individual’s educational attainment net of that person’s polygenic score. The ecological clustering of polygenic scores may denote a new environmental factor in gene-environment research. We conclude by discussing possible mechanisms that underlie this association and the implications of our findings for social and genetic research.