Rice farming in China had effects on polygenic scores for height, body mass index, depression, time discounting, reproduction, educational attainment, risk preference, alcohol metabolism capacity

Relationship between rice farming and polygenic scores potentially linked to agriculture in China. Chen Zhu et al. Royal Society Open Science, August 18 2021. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210382

Abstract: Following domestication in the lower Yangtze River valley 9400 years ago, rice farming spread throughout China and changed lifestyle patterns among Neolithic populations. Here, we report evidence that the advent of rice domestication and cultivation may have shaped humans not only culturally but also genetically. Leveraging recent findings from molecular genetics, we construct a number of polygenic scores (PGSs) of behavioural traits and examine their associations with rice cultivation based on a sample of 4101 individuals recently collected from mainland China. A total of nine polygenic traits and genotypes are investigated in this study, including PGSs of height, body mass index, depression, time discounting, reproduction, educational attainment, risk preference, ADH1B rs1229984 and ALDH2 rs671. Two-stage least-squares estimates of the county-level percentage of cultivated land devoted to paddy rice on the PGS of age at first birth (b = −0.029, p = 0.021) and ALDH2 rs671 (b = 0.182, p < 0.001) are both statistically significant and robust to a wide range of potential confounds and alternative explanations. These findings imply that rice farming may influence human evolution in relatively recent human history.

3. Discussion

In sum, genetic data from over 4000 people across China produced evidence that genes for earlier reproduction and alcohol flush response were more common among people from areas with more historical rice farming. Rice farming was negatively associated with PGSs for educational attainment, although this relationship became marginal after controlling for the history of herding.

The effect of rice remained robust after controlling for individual demographic characteristics, ethnic make-up, a range of regional characteristics and potential self-selection into rice farming. Moreover, the large sample size of counties substantially increases statistical power and allows for greater control over confounding factors in the analysis. The results of this study suggest that a major cultural transition in human history had small but detectable effects on genes.

Researchers used to believe that evolution worked so slowly that meaningful changes were unlikely to have happened in the last 10 000 years of human history. But more recently, researchers have concluded that ‘evolutionary change typically occurs much faster than people used to think’. There is also evidence that human evolution actually sped up in the last 40 000 years [49]. If rice domestication selected for particular genes, it would fit with this emerging picture of relatively recent human evolution.

We should note several limitations in our data that point to possible future improvements. (i) The current study is based on a sample of 4101 observations, which may lack statistical power due to the small sample size. (ii) The GWAS summary statistics used to construct the PGSs in this study were mostly based on samples of European ancestry, which may lead to a Euro-centric bias and limit the predictive power constructed PGSs [14].4 (iii) Identifying regional ancestry through the place of birth is not perfect. This method may misidentify people whose recent ancestors moved large distances. (iv) We analysed genetic differences but not phenotypes or actual behaviour. Genetic propensities are not destiny. (v) We do not have DNA samples from historical periods (e.g. ancient DNA). If future researchers gain access to historical DNA samples, this will allow for a directly test or completely rule out of the reverse causality issue.

It is worth remembering that environment is not destiny, either. It would be overly simplistic to expect that exact same pattern of results everywhere people grow rice. There is ample evidence that the same type of environment does not always lead to the same culture. As one small example, how farmers dealt with peak labour demands in rice differed across cultures. While Chinese farmers preferred to trade labour with family members, West African rice farmers sometimes relied on groups of youths, who would move from farm to farm. Rice presents common challenges, but cultures' solutions to those challenges (and the genetic selection pressures that come along) may differ.

Finally, the finding of rice–wheat genetic differences presents a hint about a puzzle of modernization. As fewer and fewer people are farming in China, how is it that rice–wheat differences persist in modern China? Studies have found rice–wheat differences among people who do not farm [8,9]. Genetic differences present one possible mechanism—but surely not the only mechanism—through which historical differences in subsistence style live on in the present day.