"Genes of winners"
A person's success is written in his genes
Evgenia Efimova, Vesti
Small differences in the human genome can help scientists predict (of course, not 100 percent) whether a person will get a prestigious job or whether he will achieve financial success in life. This conclusion was made by researchers from the United States thanks to data collected during the study of the lives of almost 1,000 people over four decades.
A group of scientists led by Daniel W. Belsky from Duke University studied the data of 918 New Zealanders from the moment of their birth to the present moment – for forty years.
Scientists have collected a whole pile of information about people's private lives, ranging from the age at which people uttered their first word, learned to walk and use the toilet, to their promotion at work, data on health, education and personality characteristics. "We have a complete picture of each of them," says Belsky.
It is noted that the recent scientific work is also based on a 2013 study that studied the genetic profiles of 126 thousand people. It compared the indicators of the level of education of each person. And instead of looking for individual "education genes," the researchers studied the slightest differences between genomes.
As a result, they found thousands of genetic variations that were barely noticeable individually, but together they provided an opportunity to calculate what is called a "polygenic score", which is associated with the level of education. This score was responsible for two percent of the differences in the level of education.
"Getting a good education often requires the same skills and abilities that are necessary to achieve success in life. For this reason, we assumed that the same genetics that predicts success in school can predict success in life," says Belsky (in a press release from the Association for Psychological Science Genetic Variations Linked with Social and Economic Success – VM).
He and his colleagues looked at the genetic profiles of New Zealanders and found that people with a higher "polygenic score" not only received a better education, but also achieved great success in other areas. As a rule, by the age of 38, such people had more prestigious professions, a high income and better managed their finances.
In addition, the results showed that higher "polygenic scores" were also associated with social mobility. So, people with a good "score", as a rule, achieved greater socio-economic success, even if they were born in not very wealthy families.
Scientists have found that people with higher "polygenic scores" learned to read at an earlier age compared to others. And this skill, according to experts, was associated with the best achievements in later life.
"It's important that people recognize genetic "scores." When children do not meet the established requirements, we begin to blame teachers or parents, but we must remember that all children differ genetically. And a low polygenic score does not mean that a child is not capable of learning, it makes it clear that it will take him a little more time to master the skill," says Robert Plomin, a scientist from King's College London.
The team of specialists also found out that successful people with large "polygenic scores" were more friendly.
However, experts note that such scores have nothing to do with satisfaction with a person's life or health.
Nevertheless, researchers believe that even if scores affect small differences between people, success itself still depends on many other factors that ultimately determine a person's life path.
The results of the study are published in the scientific publication Psychological Science (Belsky et al., The Genetics of Success: How SNPs associated with educational attachment relate to life course development).
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09.06.2016