Can education be personalised using pupils' genetic data?

ELife
Tim T MorrisGeorge Davey Smith

Abstract

The increasing predictive power of polygenic scores for education has led to their promotion by some as a potential tool for genetically informed policy. How accurately polygenic scores predict an individual pupil's educational performance conditional on other phenotypic data is however not well understood. Using data from a UK cohort study with data linkage to national schooling records, we investigated how accurately polygenic scores for education predicted pupils' test score achievement. We also assessed the performance of polygenic scores over and above phenotypic data that are available to schools. Across our sample, there was high overlap between the polygenic score and achievement distributions, leading to poor predictive accuracy at the individual level. Prediction of educational outcomes from polygenic scores were inferior to those from parental socioeconomic factors. Conditional on prior achievement, polygenic scores failed to accurately predict later achievement. Our results suggest that while polygenic scores can be informative for identifying group level differences, they currently have limited use for accurately predicting individual educational performance or for personalised education.

References

Jul 18, 2006·Genetics in Medicine : Official Journal of the American College of Medical Genetics·A Cecile J W JanssensCornelia M van Duijn
Oct 15, 2008·PloS One·Hans D DaetwylerJohn A Woolliams
Mar 3, 2010·PLoS Genetics·Naomi R WrayPeter M Visscher
Apr 18, 2012·International Journal of Epidemiology·Abigail FraserDebbie A Lawlor
Apr 18, 2012·International Journal of Epidemiology·Andy BoydGeorge Davey Smith
Apr 5, 2013·PLoS Genetics·Frank Dudbridge
Jul 26, 2014·Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine·Yi-Fan LuGianpiero Cavalleri
Jan 1, 2015·Bioinformatics·Jack EuesdenPaul F O'Reilly
Sep 1, 2017·BMJ : British Medical Journal·Taavi TillmannMichael V Holmes
Dec 9, 2017·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Eveline L de Zeeuw, Dorret I Boomsma
Jan 1, 2016·Journal of Housing and the Built Environment : HBE·Jaap Nieuwenhuis, Pieter Hooimeijer
Jan 27, 2018·Science·Augustine KongKari Stefansson
Mar 14, 2018·Twin Research and Human Genetics : the Official Journal of the International Society for Twin Studies·Timothy C BatesNathan A Gillespie
May 29, 2018·The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics : a Journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics·Maya Sabatello
Jul 11, 2018·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Daniel W BelskyKathleen Mullan Harris
Aug 15, 2018·Nature Genetics·Alexander I YoungAugustine Kong
Jan 10, 2019·Communications Biology·Melinda C Mills, Charles Rahal
Apr 10, 2019·Nature Human Behaviour·Daniel W BelskyCandice L Odgers
Apr 16, 2019·British Educational Research Journal·Tim T MorrisGeorge Davey Smith
Oct 23, 2019·Nature Human Behaviour·Abdel AbdellaouiPeter M Visscher
Oct 28, 2019·Human Molecular Genetics·Neil M DaviesGeorge Davey Smith
Jan 12, 2020·Communications Biology·Melinda C Mills, Charles Rahal
Feb 13, 2020·NPJ Science of Learning·K Paige HardenKathleen Mullan Harris
Feb 5, 2021·NPJ Science of Learning·K Paige HardenKathleen Mullan Harris

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Methods Mentioned

BETA
chip
genotyping

Software Mentioned

plink1
CAMSIS
PLINK
Hapmap
ShapeIT
PRSice

Related Concepts

Trending Feeds

COVID-19

Coronaviruses encompass a large family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as more serious diseases, such as the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; formally known as 2019-nCoV). Coronaviruses can spread from animals to humans; symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties; in more severe cases, infection can lead to death. This feed covers recent research on COVID-19.

Blastomycosis

Blastomycosis fungal infections spread through inhaling Blastomyces dermatitidis spores. Discover the latest research on blastomycosis fungal infections here.

Nuclear Pore Complex in ALS/FTD

Alterations in nucleocytoplasmic transport, controlled by the nuclear pore complex, may be involved in the pathomechanism underlying multiple neurodegenerative diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia. Here is the latest research on the nuclear pore complex in ALS and FTD.

Applications of Molecular Barcoding

The concept of molecular barcoding is that each original DNA or RNA molecule is attached to a unique sequence barcode. Sequence reads having different barcodes represent different original molecules, while sequence reads having the same barcode are results of PCR duplication from one original molecule. Discover the latest research on molecular barcoding here.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disease characterized by unexplained disabling fatigue; the pathology of which is incompletely understood. Discover the latest research on chronic fatigue syndrome here.

Evolution of Pluripotency

Pluripotency refers to the ability of a cell to develop into three primary germ cell layers of the embryo. This feed focuses on the mechanisms that underlie the evolution of pluripotency. Here is the latest research.

Position Effect Variegation

Position Effect Variagation occurs when a gene is inactivated due to its positioning near heterochromatic regions within a chromosome. Discover the latest research on Position Effect Variagation here.

STING Receptor Agonists

Stimulator of IFN genes (STING) are a group of transmembrane proteins that are involved in the induction of type I interferon that is important in the innate immune response. The stimulation of STING has been an active area of research in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Here is the latest research on STING receptor agonists.

Microbicide

Microbicides are products that can be applied to vaginal or rectal mucosal surfaces with the goal of preventing, or at least significantly reducing, the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Here is the latest research on microbicides.

Related Papers

BioRxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
Tim T MorrisGeorge Davey Smith
JAMA : the Journal of the American Medical Association
Leo P Sugrue, Rahul S Desikan
Journal of Advanced Nursing
Roger Watson
Biological Psychiatry
Amanda B Zheutlin, David A Ross
International Journal of Epidemiology
Mika Ala-Korpela, Michael V Holmes
© 2021 Meta ULC. All rights reserved