Polygenic prediction of educational attainment within and between families from genome-wide association analyses in 3 million individuals

We conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of educational attainment (EA) in a sample of ~3 million individuals and identify 3,952 approximately uncorrelated genome-wide-significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A genome-wide polygenic predictor, or polygenic index (PGI), explains 12-16% of EA variance and contributes to risk prediction for ten diseases. Direct effects (i.e., controlling for parental PGIs) explain roughly half the PGI's magnitude of association with EA and other phenotypes. The correlation between mate-pair PGIs is far too large to be consistent with phenotypic assortment alone, implying additional assortment on PGI-associated factors. In an additional GWAS of dominance deviations from the additive model, we identify no genome-wide-significant SNPs, and a separate X-chromosome additive GWAS identifies 57

Migraine polygenic risk score associates with efficacy of migraine-specific drugs

Objective To assess whether the polygenic risk score (PRS) for migraine is associated with acute and/or prophylactic migraine treatment response. Methods We interviewed 2,219 unrelated patients at the Danish Headache Center using a semistructured interview to diagnose migraine and assess acute and prophylactic drug response. All patients were genotyped. A PRS was calculated with the linkage disequilibrium pred algorithm using summary statistics from the most recent migraine genome-wide association study comprising ∼375,000 cases and controls. The PRS was scaled to a unit corresponding to a twofold increase in migraine risk, using 929 unrelated Danish controls as reference. The association of the PRS with treatment response was assessed by logistic regression, and the predictive power of the model by area under the curve using a case-control design with treatment response as outcome. Results A twofold increase in migraine risk associates with positive response to migraine-specific acute treatment (odds ratio [OR] = 1.25 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.05–1.49]). The association between migraine risk and migraine-specific acute treatment was replicated in an independent cohort consisting of 5,616 triptan users with prescription history (OR = 3.20 [95% CI = 1.26–8.14]). No association was found for acute treatment with non–migraine-specific weak analgesics and prophylactic treatment response. Conclusions The migraine PRS can significantly identify subgroups of patients with a higher-than-average likelihood of a positive response to triptans, which provides a first step toward genetics-based precision medicine in migraine

Food Systems in Crises: Contradictions and vital imperative

“Food is failing us.” This is the overwhelming consensus from a variety of critical stakeholders, from the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2019 report highlighting the centrality of food and land use systems to the dynamics of climate change, to the conservative think tank, Foreign Policy, as expressed in the opinion essay by Jason Hickel entitled, The Global Food Crises is here.  Indeed, as Rockstrom et al, (2019) comment: “Food systems hold a firm grip over the stability of the Earth system and the future of humanity.” To highlight this, they point out that unhealthy food is the world’s biggest killer, with diet related chronic diseases estimated to be responsible for 11 million premature deaths in 2017 alone. This is in tandem with the fact that globally, the number of persons who are hungry and malnourished is increasing, with FAO (2019) estimating this number to be 2 billion (with severe and moderate level of food insecurity). In this short reflection paper, I will argue that this crisis calls for 3 D thinking, that is: 1) Divergent, 2) Disruptive and 3) Decolonial intellectual frameworks in order to challenge the untenable neoliberal-reformist agenda of saving clauses and silver bullets that seek to preserve the corporate food regime

Recipes for Resilience: Engaging Caribbean Youth in Climate Action and Food Heritage through Stories and Song

This paper presents findings from the Recipes for Resilience project, an international, interdisciplinary collaboration between Caribbean and UK scholars of history, geography, anthropology, cultural studies, development studies, ethnobotany, and climate-risk studies, and the research partners, the Caribbean Youth Environment Network. The purpose of the project was to investigate how agrifood heritage may be mobilized in creative ways to engage Caribbean youth in climate action and justice. The project utilized arts and humanities methods, such as storytelling, songwriting, online games, and brief research-led talks, culminating in the co-created song: “Food and Resistance for Climate Resilience”. The results of the project provide evidence that climate action requires arts and humanities methods to appeal to youth, as opposed to purely fact-based or scientific forms of climate communication. We conclude that co-creative methods such as music and storytelling can inspire youth to engage in climate action, in this case through a (re)valuation culinary and agricultural heritage