--- _id: '430' abstract: - lang: eng text: In this issue of GENETICS, a new method for detecting natural selection on polygenic traits is developed and applied to sev- eral human examples ( Racimo et al. 2018 ). By de fi nition, many loci contribute to variation in polygenic traits, and a challenge for evolutionary ge neticists has been that these traits can evolve by small, nearly undetectable shifts in allele frequencies across each of many, typically unknown, loci. Recently, a helpful remedy has arisen. Genome-wide associ- ation studies (GWAS) have been illuminating sets of loci that can be interrogated jointly for c hanges in allele frequencies. By aggregating small signal s of change across many such loci, directional natural selection is now in principle detect- able using genetic data, even for highly polygenic traits. This is an exciting arena of progress – with these methods, tests can be made for selection associated with traits, and we can now study selection in what may be its most prevalent mode. The continuing fast pace of GWAS publications suggest there will be many more polygenic tests of selection in the near future, as every new GWAS is an opportunity for an accom- panying test of polygenic selection. However, it is important to be aware of complications th at arise in interpretation, especially given that these studies may easily be misinter- preted both in and outside the evolutionary genetics commu- nity. Here, we provide context for understanding polygenic tests and urge caution regarding how these results are inter- preted and reported upon more broadly. article_processing_charge: No author: - first_name: John full_name: Novembre, John last_name: Novembre - first_name: Nicholas H full_name: Barton, Nicholas H id: 4880FE40-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87 last_name: Barton orcid: 0000-0002-8548-5240 citation: ama: Novembre J, Barton NH. Tread lightly interpreting polygenic tests of selection. Genetics. 2018;208(4):1351-1355. doi:10.1534/genetics.118.300786 apa: Novembre, J., & Barton, N. H. (2018). Tread lightly interpreting polygenic tests of selection. Genetics. Genetics Society of America. https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.118.300786 chicago: Novembre, John, and Nicholas H Barton. “Tread Lightly Interpreting Polygenic Tests of Selection.” Genetics. Genetics Society of America, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.118.300786. ieee: J. Novembre and N. H. Barton, “Tread lightly interpreting polygenic tests of selection,” Genetics, vol. 208, no. 4. Genetics Society of America, pp. 1351–1355, 2018. ista: Novembre J, Barton NH. 2018. Tread lightly interpreting polygenic tests of selection. Genetics. 208(4), 1351–1355. mla: Novembre, John, and Nicholas H. Barton. “Tread Lightly Interpreting Polygenic Tests of Selection.” Genetics, vol. 208, no. 4, Genetics Society of America, 2018, pp. 1351–55, doi:10.1534/genetics.118.300786. short: J. Novembre, N.H. Barton, Genetics 208 (2018) 1351–1355. date_created: 2018-12-11T11:46:26Z date_published: 2018-04-01T00:00:00Z date_updated: 2023-09-19T10:17:30Z day: '01' ddc: - '576' department: - _id: NiBa doi: 10.1534/genetics.118.300786 external_id: isi: - '000429094400005' file: - access_level: open_access checksum: 3d838dc285df394376555b794b6a5ad1 content_type: application/pdf creator: system date_created: 2018-12-12T10:12:40Z date_updated: 2020-07-14T12:46:26Z file_id: '4958' file_name: IST-2018-1012-v1+1_2018_Barton_Tread.pdf file_size: 500129 relation: main_file file_date_updated: 2020-07-14T12:46:26Z has_accepted_license: '1' intvolume: ' 208' isi: 1 issue: '4' language: - iso: eng month: '04' oa: 1 oa_version: Published Version page: 1351 - 1355 publication: Genetics publication_status: published publisher: Genetics Society of America publist_id: '7393' pubrep_id: '1012' quality_controlled: '1' scopus_import: '1' status: public title: Tread lightly interpreting polygenic tests of selection tmp: image: /images/cc_by.png legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0) short: CC BY (4.0) type: journal_article user_id: c635000d-4b10-11ee-a964-aac5a93f6ac1 volume: 208 year: '2018' ...