Cross-trait assortative mating is widespread and inflates genetic correlation estimates

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Standard

Cross-trait assortative mating is widespread and inflates genetic correlation estimates. / Border, Richard; Athanasiadis, Georgios; Buil, Alfonso; Schork, Andrew J.; Cai, Na; Young, Alexander I.; Werge, Thomas; Flint, Jonathan; Kendler, Kenneth S.; Sankararaman, Sriram; Dahl, Andy W.; Zaitlen, Noah A.

In: Science, Vol. 378, No. 6621, 2022, p. 754-761.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Border, R, Athanasiadis, G, Buil, A, Schork, AJ, Cai, N, Young, AI, Werge, T, Flint, J, Kendler, KS, Sankararaman, S, Dahl, AW & Zaitlen, NA 2022, 'Cross-trait assortative mating is widespread and inflates genetic correlation estimates', Science, vol. 378, no. 6621, pp. 754-761. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo2059

APA

Border, R., Athanasiadis, G., Buil, A., Schork, A. J., Cai, N., Young, A. I., Werge, T., Flint, J., Kendler, K. S., Sankararaman, S., Dahl, A. W., & Zaitlen, N. A. (2022). Cross-trait assortative mating is widespread and inflates genetic correlation estimates. Science, 378(6621), 754-761. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo2059

Vancouver

Border R, Athanasiadis G, Buil A, Schork AJ, Cai N, Young AI et al. Cross-trait assortative mating is widespread and inflates genetic correlation estimates. Science. 2022;378(6621):754-761. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abo2059

Author

Border, Richard ; Athanasiadis, Georgios ; Buil, Alfonso ; Schork, Andrew J. ; Cai, Na ; Young, Alexander I. ; Werge, Thomas ; Flint, Jonathan ; Kendler, Kenneth S. ; Sankararaman, Sriram ; Dahl, Andy W. ; Zaitlen, Noah A. / Cross-trait assortative mating is widespread and inflates genetic correlation estimates. In: Science. 2022 ; Vol. 378, No. 6621. pp. 754-761.

Bibtex

@article{8bf64ffed04b411e905d5650c411aa1b,

title = "Cross-trait assortative mating is widespread and inflates genetic correlation estimates",

abstract = "The observation of genetic correlations between disparate human traits has been interpreted as evidence of widespread pleiotropy. Here, we introduce cross-trait assortative mating (xAM) as an alternative explanation. We observe that xAM affects many phenotypes and that phenotypic cross-mate correlation estimates are strongly associated with genetic correlation estimates (R2 = 74%). We demonstrate that existing xAM plausibly accounts for substantial fractions of genetic correlation estimates and that previously reported genetic correlation estimates between some pairs of psychiatric disorders are congruent with xAM alone. Finally, we provide evidence for a history of xAM at the genetic level using cross-trait even/odd chromosome polygenic score correlations. Together, our results demonstrate that previous reports have likely overestimated the true genetic similarity between many phenotypes.",

author = "Richard Border and Georgios Athanasiadis and Alfonso Buil and Schork, {Andrew J.} and Na Cai and Young, {Alexander I.} and Thomas Werge and Jonathan Flint and Kendler, {Kenneth S.} and Sriram Sankararaman and Dahl, {Andy W.} and Zaitlen, {Noah A.}",

year = "2022",

doi = "10.1126/science.abo2059",

language = "English",

volume = "378",

pages = "754--761",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "6621",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cross-trait assortative mating is widespread and inflates genetic correlation estimates

AU - Border, Richard

AU - Athanasiadis, Georgios

AU - Buil, Alfonso

AU - Schork, Andrew J.

AU - Cai, Na

AU - Young, Alexander I.

AU - Werge, Thomas

AU - Flint, Jonathan

AU - Kendler, Kenneth S.

AU - Sankararaman, Sriram

AU - Dahl, Andy W.

AU - Zaitlen, Noah A.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - The observation of genetic correlations between disparate human traits has been interpreted as evidence of widespread pleiotropy. Here, we introduce cross-trait assortative mating (xAM) as an alternative explanation. We observe that xAM affects many phenotypes and that phenotypic cross-mate correlation estimates are strongly associated with genetic correlation estimates (R2 = 74%). We demonstrate that existing xAM plausibly accounts for substantial fractions of genetic correlation estimates and that previously reported genetic correlation estimates between some pairs of psychiatric disorders are congruent with xAM alone. Finally, we provide evidence for a history of xAM at the genetic level using cross-trait even/odd chromosome polygenic score correlations. Together, our results demonstrate that previous reports have likely overestimated the true genetic similarity between many phenotypes.

AB - The observation of genetic correlations between disparate human traits has been interpreted as evidence of widespread pleiotropy. Here, we introduce cross-trait assortative mating (xAM) as an alternative explanation. We observe that xAM affects many phenotypes and that phenotypic cross-mate correlation estimates are strongly associated with genetic correlation estimates (R2 = 74%). We demonstrate that existing xAM plausibly accounts for substantial fractions of genetic correlation estimates and that previously reported genetic correlation estimates between some pairs of psychiatric disorders are congruent with xAM alone. Finally, we provide evidence for a history of xAM at the genetic level using cross-trait even/odd chromosome polygenic score correlations. Together, our results demonstrate that previous reports have likely overestimated the true genetic similarity between many phenotypes.

U2 - 10.1126/science.abo2059

DO - 10.1126/science.abo2059

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36395242

AN - SCOPUS:85142175532

VL - 378

SP - 754

EP - 761

JO - Science

JF - Science

SN - 0036-8075

IS - 6621

ER -

ID: 329613921

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