Researchers report correlations between relative lifetime reproductive success (rLRS) and human genetic variants associated with certain traits, such as height and age at first birth in females and body mass index in males, suggesting directional selection is acting on these traits; the study also uncovers a relationship between phenotype and rLRS for several traits that suggests stabilizing selection in an analysis of phenotypic and molecular genetic data for hundreds of thousands of people ages 45 and older from the UK Biobank.
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Article #17-07227: "Evidence of directional and stabilizing selection in contemporary humans," by Jaleal S. Sanjak, Julia Sidorenko, Matthew R. Robinson, Kevin R. Thornton, and Peter M. Visscher.
MEDIA CONTACT: Peter M. Visscher, University of Queensland, Brisbane, AUSTRALIA; tel: +61733466348; e-mail: < peter.visscher@uq.edu.au >
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences