LIFE Seminar Summer 2024

Genetics, Social Inequality, and Development
 

The seminar sessions usually take place on a Thursday. When in presence mode, from 10:00 am to 12:00 am, in the small conference room of the MPIB.

 

April 11, 2024, 15:00 – 17:00 (hybrid meeting), small conference room
Genetic myths of destiny and race
Laurel Raffington (MPIB) & Sam Trejo (Princeton University)

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April 18, 2024, 10:00 – 12:00, small conference room
Tracing origins of modern humans using extant and ancient genomes
Mateja Hajdinjak, MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology

  • Bergström, A., Stringer, C., Hajdinjak, M., Scerri, E. M. L. & Skoglund, P. (2021). Origins of modern human ancestry. Nature (London), 590(7845), 229–237. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03244-5
  • Hajdinjak, M., Mafessoni, F., Skov, L., Vernot, B., Hübner, A., Fu, Q., Essel, E., Nagel, S., Nickel, B., Richter, J., Moldovan, O. T., Constantin, S., Endarova, E., Zahariev, N., Spasov, R., Welker, F., Smith, G. M., Sinet‐Mathiot, V., Paskulin, L., . . . Pääbo, S. (2021). Initial Upper Palaeolithic humans in Europe had recent Neanderthal ancestry. Nature, 592(7853), 253–257. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03335-3
  • Zeberg, H., Jakobsson, M., & Pääbo, S. (2024). The genetic changes that shaped Neandertals, Denisovans, and modern humans. Cell, 187(5), 1047–1058. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2023.12.029


April 25, 2024, 15:00 – 17:00 (online meeting)
GWASs and PGIs*: Foundations, Potential Utility, and Methodological Limitations.
*GWASs (genome-wide association studies) and PGIs (polygenic indexes, also called polygenic scores or PGSs)
Robel Alemu (University of California)

Required:

  • Uffelmann, E., Huang, Q. Q., Munung, N. S., De Vries, J., Okada, Y., Martin, A. R., Martin, H. C., Lappalainen, T. & Posthuma, D. (2021). Genome-wide association studies. Nature Reviews Methods Primers, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-021-00056-9
  • Choi, S. W., Mak, T. S. H. & O’Reilly, P. (2020). Tutorial: a guide to performing polygenic risk score analyses. Nature Protocols, 15(9), 2759–2772. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41596-020-0353-1
  • Tam, V., Patel, N., Turcotte, M., Bossé, Y., Paré, G. & Meyre, D. (2019). Benefits and limitations of genome-wide association studies. Nature Reviews. Genetics, 20(8), 467–484. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-019-0127-1
  • Ding, Y., Hou, K., Xu, Z., Pimplaskar, A., Petter, E., Boulier, K., Privé, F., Vilhjálmsson, B. J., Loohuis, L. O. & Paşaniuc, B. (2023). Polygenic scoring accuracy varies across the genetic ancestry continuum. Nature (London), 618(7966), 774–781. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06079-4

Optional:

  • Abdellaoui, A., Yengo, L., Verweij, K. J. H., & Visscher, P. M. (2023). 15 years of GWAS discovery: Realizing the promise. American journal of human genetics, 110(2), 179–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2022.12.011
  • Lennon, N. J., Kottyan, L. C., Kachulis, C., Abul‐Husn, N. S., Arias, J., Belbin, G. M., Below, J. E., Berndt, S. I., Chung, W. K., Cimino, J. J., Clayton, E. W., Connolly, J. J., Crosslin, D. R., Dikilitas, O., Edwards, D. R. V., Feng, Q., Fisher, M., Freimuth, R. R., Ge, T., . . . Kenny, E. E. (2024). Selection, optimization and validation of ten chronic disease polygenic risk scores for clinical implementation in diverse US populations. Nature Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-02796-z

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May 2, 2024, 10:00 – 12:00, small conference room
Family-based approaches to gene-environment interplay in life course depression
Ziada Ayorech (University of Oslo)

  • Ayorech, Z., Cheesman, R., Eilertsen, E. M., Bjørndal, L. D., Røysamb, E., McAdams, T. A., Havdahl, A., & Ystrom, E. (2023). Maternal depression and the polygenic p factor: A family perspective on direct and indirect effects. Journal of affective disorders, 332, 159–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.03.043
  • Ayorech, Z., Torvik, F.A., Cheesman, R. et al. The structure of psychiatric comorbidity without selection and assortative mating. Transl Psychiatry 14, 121 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-024-02768-4
  • Cheesman, R., Ayorech, Z., Eilertsen, E. M., & Ystrom, E. (2023). Why we need families in genomic research on developmental psychopathology. JCPP advances, 3(1), e12138. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcv2.12138

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canceled and rescheduled for June 6th
May 16, 2024, 10:00 – 12:00, small conference roomcanceled and rescheduled for June 6th
Parenting and the intergenerational transmission of (dis-)advantage
Jasmin Wertz (University of Edinburgh)

  • Wertz, J., Moffitt, T. E., Arseneault, L., Barnes, J. C., Boivin, M., Corcoran, D. L., ... & Caspi, A. (2023). Genetic associations with parental investment from conception to wealth inheritance in six cohorts. Nature Human Behaviour, 7(8), 1388-1401.
  • Wertz, J., Moffitt, T. E., Agnew‐Blais, J., Arseneault, L., Belsky, D. W., Corcoran, D. L., ... & Caspi, A. (2020). Using DNA from mothers and children to study parental investment in children’s educational attainment. Child development, 91(5), 1745-1761.
  • Vitaro, F., Brendgen, M., & Arseneault, L. (2009). The discordant MZ-twin method: One step closer to the holy grail of causality. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 33(4), 376-382.

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May 23, 2024, 10:00 – 12:00, small conference room
Nature, nurture and nonshared environment in cognitive development
Robert Plomin (King’s College London)

  • Plomin R. (2023). Celebrating a century of research in behavioral genetics. Behavior Genetics, 53(2), 75–84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-023-10132-3
  • Plomin, R., & von Stumm, S. (2018). The new genetics of intelligence. Nature Reviews. Genetics, 19(3), 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg.2017.104
  • Afterword to the paperback edition of: Plomin, R. (2018). Blueprint: How DNA makes us who we are. MIT Press.
  • Plomin, R., & Kawakami, K. (2024). Nature, nurture and nonshared environment in cognitive development [Manuscript under review].

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June 6, 2024, 10:00 - 12:00, online meeting
Parenting and the intergenerational transmission of (dis-)advantage
Jasmin Wertz (University of Edinburgh)

  • Wertz, J., Moffitt, T. E., Arseneault, L., Barnes, J. C., Boivin, M., Corcoran, D. L., ... & Caspi, A. (2023). Genetic associations with parental investment from conception to wealth inheritance in six cohorts. Nature Human Behaviour, 7(8), 1388-1401.
  • Wertz, J., Moffitt, T. E., Agnew‐Blais, J., Arseneault, L., Belsky, D. W., Corcoran, D. L., ... & Caspi, A. (2020). Using DNA from mothers and children to study parental investment in children’s educational attainment. Child development, 91(5), 1745-1761.
  • Vitaro, F., Brendgen, M., & Arseneault, L. (2009). The discordant MZ-twin method: One step closer to the holy grail of causality. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 33(4), 376-382.

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June 13, 2024, 10:00 – 12:00, small conference room
Noncognitive skills in education: Investigating the interplay between genes, environments, and development
Margherita Malanchini (Queen Mary University of London)

  • Abstract
  • Malanchini, M., Rimfeld, K., Allegrini, A. G., Ritchie, S. J., & Plomin, R. (2020). Cognitive ability and education: How behavioural genetic research has advanced our knowledge and understanding of their association. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 111, 229–245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.01.016
  • Okbay, A., Wu, Y., Wang, N. et al. (2022). Polygenic prediction of educational attainment within and between families from genome-wide association analyses in 3 million individuals. Nature Genetics, 54, 437–449.  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-022-01016-z
  • Demange, P. A., Malanchini, M., Mallard, T. T. et al. (2021). Investigating the genetic architecture of noncognitive skills using GWAS-by-subtraction. Nature Genetics, 53, 35–44. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-020-00754-2

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June 20, 2024, 15:00 – 17:00 (online meeting)
Empirical and conceptual issues in the genetics of cognitive aging and dementia
Elliot Tucker-Drob (University of Texas at Austin)

  • La Fuente J, D., Grotzinger, A. D., Marioni, R. E., Nivard, M. G. & Tucker‐Drob, E. M. (2022). Integrated analysis of direct and proxy genome wide association studies highlights polygenicity of Alzheimer’s disease outside of the APOE region. PLOS Genetics, 18(6), e1010208. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1010208
  • Tucker-Drob E. M. (2019). Cognitive Aging and Dementia: A Life Span Perspective. Annual review of developmental psychology, 1, 177–196. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-devpsych-121318-085204

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June 27, 2024, 15:00 – 17:00 (online meeting)
Genetics research ethics, outreach, communication, and education
Robbee Wedow (Purdue University)

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July 4, 2024, 10:00 – 12:00, room 299
Genetic research on social science phenotypes: Risks, benefits, and interpretive challenges.
Kathryn Paige Harden (University of Texas at Austin)

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July 10, 2024, Wednesday, 15:00 – 17:00 (online meeting)
Measuring ageing the longitudinal way: The Pace of Ageing in the Dunedin Study
Terrie Moffitt (Duke University)

Required

  • Belsky, D. W., Caspi, A., Corcoran, D. L., Sugden, K., Poulton, R., Arseneault, L., Baccarelli, A., Chamarti, K., Gao, X., Hannon, E., Harrington, H. L., Houts, R., Kothari, M., Kwon, D., Mill, J., Schwartz, J., Vokonas, P., Wang, C., Williams, B. S., & Moffitt, T. E. (2022). DunedinPACE, a DNA methylation biomarker of the pace of aging. eLife, 11, e73420. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.73420
  • Elliott, M. L., Caspi, A., Houts, R. M., Ambler, A., Broadbent, J. M., Hancox, R. J., Harrington, H., Hogan, S., Keenan, R., Knodt, A., Leung, J. H., Melzer, T. R., Purdy, S. C., Ramrakha, S., Richmond-Rakerd, L. S., Righarts, A., Sugden, K., Thomson, W. M., Thorne, P. R., Williams, B. S., … Moffitt, T. E. (2021). Disparities in the pace of biological aging among midlife adults of the same chronological age have implications for future frailty risk and policy. Nature aging, 1(3), 295–308. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-021-00044-4

Optional

  • Caspi, A., Shireby, G., Mill, J., Moffitt, T. E., Sugden, K., & Hannon, E. (2024). Accelerated Pace of Aging in Schizophrenia: Five Case-Control Studies. Biological psychiatry, 95(11), 1038–1047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.10.023
  • Moffitt T. E. (2020). Behavioral and Social Research to Accelerate the Geroscience Translation Agenda. Ageing research reviews, 63, 101146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2020.101146
  • Sugden, K., Caspi, A., Elliott, M. L., Bourassa, K. J., Chamarti, K., Corcoran, D. L., Hariri, A. R., Houts, R. M., Kothari, M., Kritchevsky, S., Kuchel, G. A., Mill, J. S., Williams, B. S., Belsky, D. W., Moffitt, T. E., & Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative* (2022). Association of Pace of Aging Measured by Blood-Based DNA Methylation With Age-Related Cognitive Impairment and Dementia. Neurology, 99(13), e1402–e1413. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000200898
  • Whitman, E. T., Ryan, C. P., Abraham, W. C., Addae, A., Corcoran, D. L., Elliott, M. L., Hogan, S., Ireland, D., Keenan, R., Knodt, A. R., Melzer, T. R., Poulton, R., Ramrakha, S., Sugden, K., Williams, B. S., Zhou, J., Hariri, A. R., Belsky, D. W., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., … Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (2024). A blood biomarker of the pace of aging is associated with brain structure: replication across three cohorts. Neurobiology of aging, 136, 23–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2024.01.008

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July 18, 2024, 10:00 – 12:00, small conference room
Harnessing epigenetics to study the shared nature of development in childhood and biological aging in adulthood
Laurel Raffington, (MPIB)

  • Belsky, J. (2019). Early-Life Adversity Accelerates Child and Adolescent Development. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28(3), 241-246. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0963721419837670
  • Raffington, L., Schneper, L., Mallard, T., Fisher, J., Vinnik, L., Hollis-Hansen, K., Notterman, D. A., Tucker-Drob, E. M., Mitchell, C., & Harden, K. P. (2023). Salivary Epigenetic Measures of Body Mass Index and Social Determinants of Health Across Childhood and Adolescence. JAMA pediatrics, 177(10), 1047–1054. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.3017

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