Evidence of directional and stabilizing selection in contemporary humans

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1707227114
• Publication Date: 2017-12-18T20:01:49Z
• Authors: Jaleal S. Sanjak; Julia Sidorenko; Matthew R. Robinson; Kevin R. Thornton; Peter M. Visscher
• Keywords: Male; Models, Genetic; natural selection; Middle Aged; Biological Evolution; United Kingdom; complex traits; Phenotype; Genetic; stabilizing selection; Models; 1000 General; Genetics; Humans; Female; Generic health relevance; Selection, Genetic; Selection

Significance Combining high-throughput molecular genetic data with extensive phenotyping enables the direct study of natural selection in humans. We see firsthand how and at what rates contemporary human populations are evolving. Here we demonstrate that the genetic variants associated with several traits, including age at first birth in females and body-mass index in males, are also associated with reproductive success. In addition, for several traits, we demonstrate that individuals at either extreme of the phenotypic range have reduced fitness—the hallmark of stabilizing selection. Overall, the data are indicative of a moving optimum model for contemporary evolution of human quantitative traits.