TY - JOUR
T1 - Facial attractiveness is only weakly linked to genome–wide heterozygosity
AU - Fieder, Martin
AU - Huber, Susanne
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2023 Fieder and Huber.
PY - 2023/4/20
Y1 - 2023/4/20
N2 - Introduction: It has been frequently suggested that overall genomic heterozygosity and, particularly, heterozygosity of loci on the so-called major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which is responsible for the recognition of foreign substances/ pathogens and the recognition of self and non-self, is associated with better health and better resistance to infections and parasites. It has further been speculated that such a potentially beneficial heterozygosity can be detected through body odor and facial attractiveness. Methods: On the basis of genome wide SNP data (713,014 SNPs) of participants from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we therefore investigated whether homozygosity either on the MHC (measured as inbreeding coefficient) or genome-wide (measured as runs of homozygosity and inbreeding coefficient) is associated with rated facial attractiveness. Results: Although we found that the genome-wide average length of homozygous segments and the genome-wide inbreeding coefficient are significantly negatively associated with some measures of facial attractiveness, if corrected for multiple testing, any significant association was no longer formally significant after correction. In addition, the variance in facial attractiveness explained by the genome wide homozygosity is very low (<0.15%). We did not find any significant association between the inbreeding coefficient on the MHC and facial attractiveness. Discussion: We only find a weak association of genome- wide heterozygosity and facial attractiveness.
AB - Introduction: It has been frequently suggested that overall genomic heterozygosity and, particularly, heterozygosity of loci on the so-called major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which is responsible for the recognition of foreign substances/ pathogens and the recognition of self and non-self, is associated with better health and better resistance to infections and parasites. It has further been speculated that such a potentially beneficial heterozygosity can be detected through body odor and facial attractiveness. Methods: On the basis of genome wide SNP data (713,014 SNPs) of participants from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we therefore investigated whether homozygosity either on the MHC (measured as inbreeding coefficient) or genome-wide (measured as runs of homozygosity and inbreeding coefficient) is associated with rated facial attractiveness. Results: Although we found that the genome-wide average length of homozygous segments and the genome-wide inbreeding coefficient are significantly negatively associated with some measures of facial attractiveness, if corrected for multiple testing, any significant association was no longer formally significant after correction. In addition, the variance in facial attractiveness explained by the genome wide homozygosity is very low (<0.15%). We did not find any significant association between the inbreeding coefficient on the MHC and facial attractiveness. Discussion: We only find a weak association of genome- wide heterozygosity and facial attractiveness.
KW - homozygote, attraktivität
KW - facial attractiveness
KW - genome wide homozygosity
KW - MHC homozygosity
KW - runs of homozygosity
KW - SNP
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85158054143&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1009962
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1009962
M3 - Article
SN - 1664-1078
VL - 14
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
JF - Frontiers in Psychology
M1 - 1009962
ER -