Highly educated or not? Your genes decide

Los Angeles, July 25: Scientists have identified nearly 1,300 genetic variants associated with how much education someone may complete — far more than the 74 variants initially discovered in a smaller study two years ago.

The research, published in the journal Nature Genetics, is one of the largest genetics studies to date. It is based on genetic information from over one million individuals with European ancestries — more than three times the size of the 2016 study.

The total influence of the genetic variants is small, explaining about four per cent of the variation in educational attainment across individuals, the scientists said.

They found that genetic variants on the X chromosome explain virtually identical amounts of variation in men and women.

This finding lends support to the hypothesis that there are no genetically based sex differences in the amount of variation in educational attainment, the researchers said.

“Even variants with the largest effects predict, on average, only about three more weeks of schooling in those who have those variants compared to those who don't,” said Daniel Benjamin, an associate professor at the University of Southern California ( USC) in the US.

“Yet when we analyse the combined effects of many genetic variants, taken together they can predict the length of a person's formal education as well as demographic factors,” Benjamin said.

Scientists have known for years that demographic factors are associated with educational attainment, including household income.